YARMOUTH, Maine — Our weather is finally warming up, just in time for Memorial Day weekend, which is not just a big weekend for tourists, it is for gardeners as well. It’s time to get going on those warm weather veggies.
You might have already started our more hardy vegetables, like peas and broccoli, but tomatoes and peppers need warmer soil. Memorial Day is traditionally the time many feel it’s warm enough to start planting.
If you are buying plants you might ponder whether to spend more for a bigger plant, or spend less and have to wait a little longer for them to produce. Tom Estabrook of Estabrook’s in Yarmouth says,” The bigger the pepper you can buy , the better. It will give you more yield faster. What I usually do is put six small green peppers in. Then the hot peppers, I buy a bigger one because I don’t need that many and I’ll get them early for my salsas.”
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Estabrook says it’s also a great time to think about adding herbs to the garden, especially heat loving herbs like Sage, Rosemary, Basil and Tarragon. If you plant herbs too early, they will not flourish. “At this point, I buy a few basil plants, and then also buy seed and put the seed in next to it. By the time your basil plants are done producing, the seed will be ready and you can start picking that for a great guacamole.”
Estabrook warns against over fertilizing your vegetables. He does not fertilize when he plants, but rather dresses the sides of the rows with Garden Tone as the plants need it. “With vegetables you have to remember you want more fruit than you want top growth. If you over-fertilize you get a lot of foliage, but not as much fruit. We want to give enough fertilizer to keep them happy and growing but not too much that we’re just pushing a bunch of leaves.”
When it comes to prepping the soil in your garden, ask yourself how your veggies did last year. If they were sluggish in growth, you may want to do a soil test. If your PH is low, the nutrients in the soil won’t be available to the plants. Most of the time a little lime will take care of that. If you have a lot of clay in your soil, Estabrook suggests a product called Soil Perfector , which breaks up clay and allows more air into the soil.
And lastly, remember to rotate the placement of your crops, not just for nutrient reasons, but also to keep diseases at bay. If you are planting in a pot, Estabrook suggests doing a light bleach rinse to kill any remaining pathogens. Happy Memorial Day and happy gardening!