This is for all of you out there bringing up the rear when it comes to planting a spring vegetable garden. You had every intention of clearing out the backyard plot, but the weeds have gotten the best of things. The air already feels like summer, and your window for procrastination is about to slam shut.
We checked in with a few farmers, growers and cooks at the Peachtree Road Farmers Market in Buckhead for some suggestions of edibles that you can sink in the ground right now and see results before the worst of the season’s heat arrives.
Because you’d rather spend time doing anything other than clearing the huge plot of earth you tended so well last year, these are suggestions you can easily fit into a 3-by-6-foot space. Some can be grown in containers on a sunny stoop out back or by the front porch. Most need at least six to eight hours of direct sunlight, though a couple can survive with an hour or two less.
A few of the farmers mentioned here sell seedlings of some of the plants they recommend, though similar options can be found at garden centers. If all else fails, you can head to any of the 70 or so metro Atlanta farmers markets and get suggestions that will work with your garden. Most farmers are willing to give advice, and often have uncommon varieties available for purchase and planting. Or, if you decided to let the weeds have it, you can head to the farmers market and buy these herbs and veggies picked, washed, packed and ready to go.
We won’t call it cheating.
Chard
Greg Brown of Greenleaf Farms recommends quick-growing things such as chard or red sails lettuce, which has frilly ends like an old-fashioned crinoline. Chard, mustard greens and lettuce also work well because you can pull leaves off as you need them, if you don’t need the entire head all at once. “At this point you want to plant quick-growing crops and stuff you’ll cut and then it will come back again,” Brown said. “You don’t want to spend 60 to 90 days cultivating something, then harvest it once and you’re done.”
Unless they are Parisian carrots. They are about the size and shape of ping-pong balls, perfect to grow in a large container because they don’t need a deep bed, Brown said. “And depending on the recipe you’re using, you can really show off their shape.”
Salad greens
“Where is it written that you can’t grow lettuce year-round?” said Paula Guilbeau of Heirloom Gardens.
Well, actually, a lot of gardeners give up on lettuce once temperatures soar. The heat and humidity can be too taxing on the delicate leaves. Guilbeau swears the key to her success is growing the crop in a location with light shade. Many varieties she grows in simple 10- or 12-inch pots. She also sows arugula seeds every three weeks so that she has a constant crop. “I use an old salt or pepper shaker to sow them,” Guilbeau said. “I just put it in, shake it where I want it and cover it lightly with soil.” She is also a big believer in planting almost shoulder to shoulder, particularly in a tight space. She doesn’t worry about crowding. “I’m more of a grower than a farmer, so I break rules all the time.”
Herbs
Herbs are probably the easiest thing to grow, particularly if you’ve got good amounts of morning and noontime sun. Oregano, chives, thyme, basil, rosemary, all of the basics top Jeff Collins’ list. Collins runs Farmer Jeff’s produce. But he cautions against too much sun in the midafternoon or late afternoon, particularly if you’ve placed your herbs in pots. “Water them once a day if they are in pots and shade them in the afternoon because the heat will kill the roots,” Collins said. “If it’s in a pot and it’s 100 degrees out, then the pot is much hotter, particularly if it’s a dark pot.”
If your lot is too shady, it will be hard to grow herbs — except for mint, which should be kept in a pot or otherwise confined because it is invasive and will take over your garden. “Peppermint is best for making tea, but spearmint is best for a mojito,” said Collins, referring to the Cuban rum drink made with muddled mint leaves.
Strawberries and eggplant
Pick up a strawberry pot at your garden center, or clean out the one you already have, and fill each opening with a small, white-flowered plant now so you can serve a strawberry pie in mid to late June, said Patricia Bennett, who runs Green Ola Acres with husband Phil. Because strawberries are perennials, they will send out runners in May and June. So if you have planted them in the ground rather than in a pot, the runners will send out what are in effect baby plants that will also fruit. Another favorite of Bennett’s are “fairy tale” eggplants. The plant is small enough to grow in a 5-gallon pot or, as Bennett said, in an old “large-size OxyClean tub.”
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What to do with your food
An unexpected way to use many of your farmers market finds is to literally steep them in water. Caterer Lisa Rochon of Cuisine gathers strawberries, herbs, tomatoes, celery and other veggies to make infused waters. “I don’t drink soft drinks, but this is no [refined] sugar and just as sweet,” Rochon said. “I change it up depending upon what’s here.” One week it’s strawberry-thyme water, another rosemary-mint — or even celery and tomato.
“You take two or three sprigs of an herb you like and wash and slice vegetable or fruit, and let them steep a day in two quarts of water,” Rochon said. “Or if you want, you can let it sit in the sun with a glass container with a cover on it. It’ll steep like a sun tea.”
Her favorite combinations: half a pear and half a cucumber. Rochon said you don’t have to peel the fruit or vegetables unless you are using citrus, which should have all skin and pith removed to guard against bitterness.
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Some Metro Atlanta Farmers markets
Peachtree Road Farmers Market
8:30 a.m.-noon Saturdays, through September; 9 a.m.-noon, October-December. (On June 1, market will be held from 4 to 8 p.m., but not June 2.) Parking lot of the Cathedral of St. Phillip, 2744 Peachtree Road N.W., Atlanta. 404-365-1078, www.peachtreeroadfarmersmarket.com
Riverside Farmers Market
8-noon Saturdays, May 19-Sept. 15, 38 Hill St., Roswell., 404-613-7670
Lawrenceville Farmers Market
Saturdays, June-September, 20 S. Clayton St., Lawrenceville., www.lawrenceville farmersmarket.com
Marietta Square Farmers Market
9 a.m.-noon Saturdays, through November; noon-3 p.m. Sundays through November, 65 Church St., Marietta., 770-499-9393, www .mariettasquarefarmers market.net
Brookhaven Farmers Market
9 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturdays, opening this week, through December, 1441 Dresden Drive, Atlanta., www.brookhavenfarmers market.com
Morningside Farmers Market
7:30-11:30 a.m. Saturdays, through Dec. 31, 1393 N. Highland Ave. N.E., 404-313-5784, www .morningsidemarket.com
Decatur Farmers Market
4-7 p.m. Wednesdays, through October); 3-6 p.m. (November-December), 163 Clairmont Ave., Decatur, 9 a.m.-1 p.m., Saturdays, 498 N. McDonough St., www.decaturfarmers market.com
For more information www.pickyourown.org to find a market in your neighborhood.
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