10 Weeks of Vegetable Gardening: Week 6

Each Friday I am posting a weekly guide for prepping your home vegetable garden. In Raleigh, the last killing frost date is April 11 (on average, give or take a week), so my first weekend for planting (summer crops) outdoors is April 9.


Can you believe it is only 4 weeks left until the last killing frost? I am absolutely delighted to see redbuds blossoming, although I know my sinuses will soon be barraged by pollen. This week I have been sowing flower seeds everywhere – in the ground, indoors, and in my cold-frame. Most of my seed packets say March – May, so I dove right in. I originally wanted my garden to only house vegetables, until I considered that it would be nice to have perennial flowers and bulbs and herbs to serve as the bones and give structure and color to the garden.


There are some annuals that once you get going will keep coming back year after year. One of those is cockscomb, an edible plant eaten in West and Central Africa and East Asia. I harvested a bag of seeds from my neighbors’ flowers last year, and they have already sprouted in my cold-frame. She says they usually come up late summer in her yard, so I will be getting a head-start.


This week I also put lettuce sprouts in the ground, which means that it is time to lay out the drip (or soaker) hoses, which save a lot of water as compared to a sprinkler. Believe me, you will only make the mistake of laying a drip hose AFTER you have planted your garden once. Drip hoses are not very expensive, but can break down over the years. Before installing it in the garden, check to make sure there are no clogs and that the water is fairly evenly distributed down the length of the hose. 


The following seeds can be planted indoors this week: cantaloupe, cucumber, okra, pumpkin, and squash.


Happy gardening!