What Will You Be Planting This Spring?
Introduction
Here at Baker Creek, spring is well and truly in full bloom. The farm is bouncing with life, the surrounding valley looks lush, and the trees are leafing in a multitude of glorious green shades. With warming hearts, we welcome the summer months to come, yet things are already heating up on the gardening front. May is a busy month in the green thumb scene; it’s time to hoe down, whack some weeds, and let the planting-out parties commence. To help keep you on track, here are some ideas for yard chores in the coming weeks.
Seeds to Quickly Pop into the Ground
Baker Creek's General Manager, John Brazaitis, reminds us it's not too late to get going: "If you don't have anything started yet (or you do and you still have space to plant more!) here are a few things you can pop right into the ground: Beans, corn, cowpeas, cucumbers, melons, squash, and watermelon can be direct-sown in your vegetable garden after the last frost. And if you want herbs and flowers, go with amaranth, basil, bee balm, celosia, chamomile, cilantro, dill, marigold, milkweed, mint, parsley, sorghum, sunflowers, thyme, and of course zinnias. Just plant and go!"
Flowers to Plant in Spring
With the risk of late frost all but past, we’ve been in a flower-planting frenzy, with all sorts of botanical brilliance being set out in the beds--from crazy-colored calendula, mammoth-sized marigolds, and decadently petalled dianthus, to a scattering of zesty-toned zinnias.
It’s Celosia Season
We're particularly excited about the scintillating array of celosia blooms to come. These eye-catching flowers are not just stylish additions to the herbaceous border or the cutting garden, but a double-duty crop, as the leaves provide a delicious spinach-like alternative when wilted or fried.
These charismatic and colorful members of the amaranth family produce tasty leaves that are prized in East Africa, where they are commonly used in wholesome soups and spicy stir fries. When harvesting these plants for eating, it’s best to choose the young leaves, before plants begin to blossom, as often they will take on a bitter edge as they mature. You may wish to try this recipe for Celosia Tempura.
Some of the team’s favorite varieties of celosia include the show-stopping and historical ‘Variegated’ variety that first burst onto the scene during the 1800s and bustles with marbled colors ranging from pastel peach to majestic purples, a true beauty. Two other alluring celosias we adore are ‘Early Rose,’ a smoking hot pink with a crinkled blossom, along with 'Rainbow Sherbet,’ one of the grooviest colored and chicest blooms on the market. These long, feathery flowers display an ornamental array of dashing pastel colors from burnt orange and peach to lilac, mauve, and antique pink.
Seedlings in the greenhouse
What to Plant in Greenhouses
In the greenhouses, where crops enjoy more protection from the elements, we are focusing our attention on planting out sun-loving crops like sweet peppers, tomatoes, and eggplants. We encourage you to step back and take a moment to rejoice when these frost-tender seedlings are finally in the ground and finding their feet after all of the handwork needed to keep them alive.
If you’re looking for a killer tomato with abundant yields, elegant beauty, and unparalleled taste, then ‘Pineapple’ is the fruit for you. In the eggplant department, the ‘Chinese String’ is a long, slender, tender-textured fruit that’s sugary sweet and boasts the unique ability to be sliced thin, marinated, and eaten raw in salads or used as a creative garnish. Check out this recipe for eggplant with garlic (submitted by Baker Creek's Xu Chen!), which features this variety.
Don’t Forget about Seed-Sowing
With all the planting-out shenanigans, it’s easy to lose track and take our eyes off of the seed-sowing game, but don’t lose perspective. Now is the perfect time to take stock of your seed inventory, keep up with succession sowing, and continue germinating sun-loving crops. Our potting benches and propagation houses are still brimming with young seedlings bursting into life. Bean, sunflower, and squash seeds should all be finding their way into trays for germination or being directly sown into their final growing locations.
Sunflowers for a Structured and Beautiful Garden
Planting a dazzling display of sunflowers doesn’t just provide height and structure to the garden; these flowers are firm favorites at the Baker Creek farm for their diverse range of beauty that spans a spectrum of warming tones from maroons and saffron yellows to mustards and golds. ‘Autumn Beauty’ and ‘Chocolate Cherry’ are some of our most stunning varieties for an alternative to the standard big blooms of canary yellow.
Take Part in a Sunflower Growing Competition
Growing the majestic, rapid-growing plants also offers the opportunity for the age-old classic sunflower growing competition, fun for the whole family to see who can nurture their plant to grow the tallest. If tall sunnies are what you’re after, then look no further than the ‘Mongolian Giant’, and they’re not called giant for nothing. These towering flowers can surpass heights of 14 ft, and their huge faces are heavy yielders of seeds delicious for roasting and snacking, or for leaving out as a feast for our feathery friends.
Main Takeaways
It’s not too late to get your garden ready for summer! For those with less time on their hands, quickly pop some beans, corn, or cucumbers into the ground. Meanwhile, greenhouse enthusiasts should look in the direction of sun-loving crops like sweet peppers and tomatoes. To please the eyes, choose from our wide array of sunflowers, or combine the visual appeal with practicality with the beautiful and tasty celosia.
We hope your gardens are taking shape and swaying graciously in the spring breeze. Now's not the time to lose sight, but rejoice in our hard work and eagerly await the summer months and fruitful bounties that lie ahead.