Planting Sweet Corn
Drop corn seeds about 6 -8 inches apart into your furrow. Using the back of your hoe, tap the seeds down into the soil. Cover seeds with 1 - 1 1/2 inches of soil. Tamp the soil down with your hoe. For best pollination, plant a minimum of four rows.
Gardening Tip: Side Dressing
I draw a second furrow for side dressing. Plant corn seeds in your main furrow, then put fertilizer (10-10-10) in an equal amount down your second furrow. Cover both with soil at the same time. Firm the soil by tamping it with your hoe.
How to Plant Cucumber
Plant cucumber in rows or in hills. For rows, seeds should be spaced 6 to 8 inches apart. Plant cucumber transplants 8 to 10 inches apart. Rows or hills should be 4 feet apart. I think it works better to plant in hills.
How to Plant Eggplant
Plant transplants 1 ½ to 2 feet apart in rows. My favorite variety is Black Beauty, but there are ornamental and other varieties to choose from. Your rows should be about 3 feet apart. For best results, harvest when 6 - 8 inches long. It is awesome in eggplant parmesan.
How to Plant Melons
Cantaloupe and watermelon can be planted in rows or hills. Seeds should be spaced 6 to 8 inches apart. Put transplants at least 10 inches apart. Space rows or hills 6 feet apart.
Gardening Tip:
Putting straw under melons helps prevent bottom rot.
How to Plant Okra
Also known as gumbo, okra grows tall (unless you get a dwarf variety) and is delicious for soups, canning and stews. I love them breaded and fried. Many love them in Cajun gumbo recipe. According to the University of Illinois, Okra was brought to the new world by African slaves and Gumbo is Swahili for Okra. Sow seeds 1 inch deep in hills placed 1 -2 feet apart.
Gardening Tip:
Harvest okra when small and tender; they get tough and inedible quickly.
When your vegetables grow, star them in healthy vegetable recipes. See my blog or click here for Carolina Okra, Corn and Tomatoes - a vegetable side dish recipe and a Cajun gumbo recipe.
Gardening Tip:
Interplanting is planting different vegetables between each other. Sow a row of corn with hills of cantaloupe between rows, 3 feet apart. Corn grows upward and does not create much shade, and cantaloupe vines run on the ground. Interplant corn with pumpkins, gourds, and squash.
Gardening Tip:
Let corn get 8 inches tall, then plant pole beans on the Southern, sunny, outside of rows. Train vines to run up corn stalks.
See my article, Preparing A Garden Plot, for information on how to prepare your soil before planting and growing vegetables.
©By Sally Morton, April 2006. Reproduction without permission prohibited.
