Vegetable Reference Information
Types of plants and when to grow them
Herbs
- Growing Herbs
- Basil Reference Sheet (Utah Extension Service)
- Chives Reference Sheet (Utah Extension Service)
- Cilantro Reference Sheet (Utah Extension Service)
- Dill Reference Sheet (Utah Extension Service)
- Garlic Reference Sheet (Utah Extension Service)
- Garlic Harvest and Storage
Have you ever tried to do strawberries?
Strawberries go 4 per square foot, and the recommended care is to trim off any suckers to keep the mother plant strong and get the largest berries. After 3 years you have to either let them sucker or replace all the plants because the mother plants will start to die. A lot of people just let them go crazy and take over the bed, you get smaller berries that way but it is a lot less work. We are trying them in a SFG this year; not really sure which way we are going to go…
Could you tell me what you know about planting raspberries?
Yes, and it won’t take long–I’ve never planted raspberries! Sorry!
Do you know anything about planting asparagus in a SFG? I am setting up a “perennial bed” with asparagus and strawberries, but the only thing I’ve read about asparagus is that you have to dig deep trenches… ?
I’ve never grown asparagus, but you should be able to grow them just fine. Dedicate an entire bed to them, and plant up to 4 per square. I’d approach it like potatoes–take half the dirt out, plant the asparagus, and then cover it with the soil.
I have grown raspberries for years. I haven’t been able to contain them in square foot gardening boxes because their suckers go a little wild undground and take over EVERYTHING. I live in the NW and have clay soil that I dump mulched leaves and coffee grounds from Starbucks on each fall. The raspberries grow fabulously with that treatment and each year I have to dig out and give away canes. The best are Mammoth red because they are thornless and big, but Heritage are very reliable too!
Awesome comment–I’ve wanted to learn about growing raspberries and strawberries. Good to know that SFG bed is not ideal. I’m determined to find a spot and plant them sometime.
I’m trying to grow pole beans, and I soaked the beans the night before sowing them as per the package, it’s been about 10 days now and only one plant is growing. Do you think i should abandon the seeds I planted and plant something new in those squares, or should I wait a little longer?
Unless you’ve over-watered or been rained on a lot, the answer is probably WAIT A LITTLE LONGER. Especially if you’ve had a late spring (like me!) and temperatures are lower than usual. Look at the seed packet and see how long germination should take. Wait a few days more, then replant.
On the page about how many plants in a square… does zucchini 9 squares mean you need 9 squares for one zucchini plant? if so, can that be trellised upwards and use less squares?
Yes, zucchini takes 9 squares. However, a reader and I have both tried pruning them, with great success. I think you can get away with 4 squares if you stake and prune them.
Any advice about artichokes? Are they good to start indoors, or plant outside, and when should they be planted?
You can find an artichoke reference sheet here.
I have grown raspberries for years, and love them. You have to make sure you plant several plants together, as they need to pollinate each other in order to produce fruit. Most nurseries sell raspberry plants in bundles, for this reason. I would recommend planting several plants, so that you get a harvest you can use, since the birds LOVE them too. If you don’t have the room for that, you can place fine nets over them to protect the fruit from the birds. I dug out a simple bed for them in the corner of our yard, planted about 8 plants, and they did awesome for years, until a neighbor’s shed caught fire against that corner of our yard, and burned every bush to the ground. *sigh* We started over last year with new plants. and added blueberry plants in there as well. They take a couple years at the least to begin to produce fruit, so they take patience, but SO worth it!
Hi Emily, I’m trying to find information on bell peppers, and am having a hard time. Do we put one pepper plant in each square?
Good news–go here!
I have several bush bean plants and have already picked large quantities of beans (I’m in the white group). My question is, will these plants re-flower and continue to produce or should I just pull them up and plant something else? They still look pretty healthy and I see a few flowers starting, but so far not close to the amount that they originally produced. Thanks!!
By picking them consistently you can increase the harvest from your bush beans. But they will harvest for 2-3 weeks, and then be done. So if they’ve stopped, you should pull them up and possibly plant something else.
Thank you Emily!! That’s exactly what I needed to know. I still need to get the hang of the various cycles of the plants so I can stagger my plantings to make the most of my season. Clearly I should have planted another set of bean plants a few weeks ago!
Being in North FL, I would think I should have a pretty extended season so I’m still trying to time it all right.
Has anyone ever tried sweet potatoes in a square foot garden? I would like to try the bush variety but I do not know if it is possible.
I haven’t tried them, but they’re on my list for next year. I am pretty sure they will grow just fine in a square foot garden.
Hi Emily,
I’m in South Florida and just figured out I should have planted potatoes in September. Everything is backward down here, plant in the winter, hibernate in the summer. Anyway, I ordered a batch of seed potatoes before figuring this out. Do you think they’ll keep until September?
Luckily, I also ordered sweet potatoes and their ideal time to plant down here is in February/March, so I’ll get to try something new. I’m going to grow one batch up a trellis in my SFG. I’m going to try another batch in hay and will probably try another batch traditionally just to see what does best.
Do you know the best way to store some for starts for the following year? These were very, very expensive and I don’t want to spend that kind of money each year if I’m successful growing them this year.
Caroline–I would be surprised if the seed potatoes lasted that long–they are just regular potatoes that are not treated so they won’t sprout, and are certified to be disease free. You should keep them in a cool, dark place for best results.
I have never grown sweet potatoes, so I would have to research it to find out more.
Thanks, Emily – guess I’m going to have to try a summer crop of potatoes to and hopefully get lucky. Can’t hurt to try since I already bought them…
I would like to grow tomatillos. Do you know when to plant them? I am in the Pink Group – I live Texas, just northeast of Houston.
They follow the same dates/times as tomatoes.