Prepare Your Vegetable Garden for Spring and Summer
As spring and summer approach, it’s time to get your vegetable garden ready. Learn about the vegetables and fruits to get in the ground as the weather warms.
Key Takeaways:
- As warm weather arrives, it’s time to start your vegetable garden
- The right plant choices in your harvest plot allow you to boost your nutrition
- Knowing each plant’s requirements helps you plan your veggie bed
Quality of Life offers tips on health and more. Learn about what we can offer.
Table of Contents:
- Ramps: Spring Ephemerals
- Arugula: Peppery-Tasting Green
- Rhubarb: Perennial Vegetable
- Tomatoes: Late-Spring Sowing
- Honeydew: Refreshing and Unique
- Cucumber: Lots of Sun and Warmth
Ramps: Spring Ephemerals
Ramps are some of the first vegetables to grow in the early spring, usually between March and April. They look like scallions but are smaller and have broad, flat leaves.
The best way to get them in your vegetable garden is to transplant them as bulbs. You have to do this in February to get them ready for use in April.
Place a shade over the area where you’ll be planting them. Ideally, a raised bed can allow you better control over the water and drainage.
Ramps planted as bulbs can take about a year to be ready to harvest, so plant them now and enjoy them next April.
Aside from offering a delicious blend of garlic and onion flavors, ramps are full of vitamins A and C, as well as selenium and chromium.
Like other members of the allium family, they contain antioxidants that give a boost to your immune system. They’re also great for your gut, offering prebiotic fiber.
Arugula: Peppery-Tasting Green
The leaves of the arugula plant offer a spicy zap to your dishes. It’s a member of the mustard family and is a relative of cabbage, kale, and broccoli.
It should be planted in the early spring. Even if the soil is still cold, the seeds can withstand the chill. It grows best in nutrient-rich and well-drained soil.
Choose a spot in the garden that gets plenty of full sun. Sow seeds ¼ inch deep and about one inch apart. They germinate in about a week.
You can sow seeds every two to three weeks to have a continuous harvest — even in winter in warmer climates. Remember to keep the soil evenly moist.
Use arugula in salads, pizza, sandwiches, and more. It’s packed with vitamins A, C, and K, which can help with your immune system and blood circulation.
The leaves are full of potassium, a mineral vital for heart and nerve function, as well as calcium, which is important for your bones, muscles, and nerves.
Rhubarb: Perennial Vegetable
Although it’s sometimes thought of as a fruit and used in sweet dishes, rhubarb is technically a vegetable.
Its tart flavor brings a fresh kick to salads and even pies. The stalks are the edible part. Harvest them when they’re about 12 to 18 inches long.
You’ll want to sow the seeds in March or April. Choose a spot that receives full sun with well-drained soil; otherwise, the plant can rot.
Rhubarb needs organic matter in the soil, so add compost. The best option is to plant rhubarb crowns about two to four feet apart and water them well.
One of the best things about rhubarb is it’s a perennial and can continue offering a yearly yield for about ten years.
Rhubarb is a great source of antioxidants, fiber, vitamin K, and calcium.
Learn more about the benefits of adding the right nutrients to your diet, whether via your diet or supplements. Contact Quality of Life today.
Tomatoes: Late-Spring Sowing
For tomatoes, you need to wait until the late spring, beginning in May. They grow happily in very sunny spots and in soil with good drainage.
Because most tomato plants naturally collapse and grow along the ground, supporting them with a stake or trellis is a good idea. Some varieties can grow up to 10 feet tall.
Wait until the cold weather has truly passed and choose a spot where they’ll receive six to eight hours of sunlight and the soil is slightly acidic.
You need to water tomato plants regularly. They benefit from fertilization. Tomatoes can take between 90 and 110 days to grow. When they’re red, they’re ready to eat.
Tomatoes are a great source of lycopene, which helps improve heart function, as well as vitamin C, which is a powerful antioxidant.
They also contain folate, which is crucial for tissue growth and cell function. Vitamin K1 is another nutrient in tomatoes and helps with blood clotting and bone health.
Honeydew: Refreshing and Unique
The smooth, cream-colored outer skin makes honeydew melons unique in their family. They take a bit longer to grow than others, usually about 120 days, but they’re worth it.
You can start them indoors before the last frost or wait until May to get them in the ground. Choose a warm and well-drained spot in your vegetable garden.
They need consistent and plentiful moisture to grow until the melon is about the size of a tennis ball. When the rind changes from green to yellow, they’re ready.
Honeydew contains high levels of potassium, which helps regulate blood pressure. It’s also packed with essential bone-health nutrients, including:
- Folate,
- Vitamin K
- Magnesium
Honeydew is rich in calcium and sodium, too. These crucial electrolytes can keep you hydrated throughout the hot summer days.
Cucumbers: Lots of Sun and Warmth
Cucumbers can add a fun and refreshing crunch to any salad. You can choose from vining or bush cucumbers, depending on the size of your vegetable garden.
Choose a site that gets full sun for at least six hours each day. Add about two inches of fertilizer to the soil before planting, and make sure there’s moisture.
It’s best to plant these close to summer when soil temperature levels remain steadily high. Sow seeds one inch deep and about three to five feet apart.
Water frequently, but avoid getting the leaves wet. They take between 50 and 70 days to grow.
Cucumbers are low in calories but rich in vitamins C and K, as well as magnesium and potassium.
Give Your Body the Nutrients It Needs
As the spring and summer months arrive, adding crucial nutrients to your diet can make a difference in your energy and health levels. At Quality of Life, we offer a variety of supplements to help you achieve your health goals. Reach out to us today for more.
