University of Vermont Extension
Department of Plant and Soil Science
Spring News
Article
VEGETABLES LIKE COFFEE
Charlie Nardozzi, Senior
Horticulturist
National Gardening Association
Stocking
up on coffee grounds for your vegetables, sowing peas, and planting asparagus
are some of the spring activities for this year’s vegetable garden.
Coffee
grounds contain some major nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus, and
potassium) as
well as some micronutrients, so put them to work in your garden. Allow
them to
dry and then spread them around the base of plants.
Lettuce, especially, seems to benefit, and the grounds may benefit
acid-loving
plants since the grounds are slightly acidic. Coffee grounds also
appear to
have some negative effect on weed growth, and on slugs and snails. Some
coffee
shops give away bags of used grounds so you can stock up on this free
organic
matter.
Once
the soil reaches 45 degrees and is dried out enough to dig in, it's time to
plant peas. Choose a location in full sun and orient the rows north-south to
take full advantage of the sunlight. Turn over the soil with a garden fork, or
rototill if it's a new bed. Soak the seeds for a few hours or overnight (no
longer or they may rot), and dust the seeds with an inoculant of nitrogen-fixing bacteria to help the
roots take in more nitrogen. Set up your trellis first, then plant the seeds
one to two inches deep. Cultivate very shallowly because the roots grow close
to the surface; better yet, pull the weeds by hand so you don't accidentally
cut off a plant.
For
asparagus, select a well-drained site in at least part sun; full sun is not
necessary. Eliminate all weeds by repeated tilling,
loosening the soil to a depth of 12 to 15 inches. Mix in a 2- to 4-inch layer
of compost. Prepare the bed by digging trenches four feet apart. The trenches
should be 12 inches wide and six to 12 inches deep. Soak the crowns briefly in
lukewarm water before planting. Draw a hoe along each side of the prepared
trench to form a mound in the center running the length of the trench. Set the
crowns 18 inches apart on the mounds in the trench, draping the roots over the
sides. Cover the crowns with a mix of one part compost to three parts topsoil,
burying the crowns two inches deep. Water the bed thoroughly. After about a
month, once shoots have appeared, carefully add more soil to the trench.
If
you don't have room to plant potatoes in the garden, try planting them in
cylinders. Using chicken wire or wire mesh, fashion
a cylinder that's about three feet tall and across, and place it over a tilled
bed. Place a layer of hay along the inside walls of the cage, then add a 2- to
3-inch layer of rich garden soil and plant four potato tubers. Cover the tubers
with more soil. As they grow, continue lining the inner edge of the cage with
hay and covering the young sprouts with soil until you reach the top of the
cage. Keep the plants well watered and harvest when the vines naturally die
back.
Cole
crops, such as broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage, can be
started indoors under lights beginning in late March. These
cool-loving crops can grow six
weeks indoors before being transplanted outdoors two weeks before your
last
frost date.
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