Gardening Without Irrigation Part 5

Stokes Seeds Inc. Box 548, Buffalo, NY 14240 _(STK)_

Territorial Seed Company: P.O. Box 20, Cottage Grove, OR 97424 _(TSC)_

*Throughout the growing directions that follow in this chapter, the reader will be referred to a specific company only for varieties that are not widely available.

I have again come to appreciate the older style of vegetable--sprawling, large framed, later maturing, longer yielding, vigorously rooting. However, many of these old-timers have not seen the attentions of a professional plant breeder for many years and throw a fair percentage of bizarre, misshapen, nonproductive plants.

These "off types" can be compensated for by growing a somewhat larger garden and allowing for some waste. Dr. Alan Kapuler, who runs Peace Seeds, has brilliantly pointed out to me why heirloom varieties are likely to be more nutritious. Propagated by centuries of isolated homesteaders, heirlooms that survived did so because these superior varieties helped the gardeners' better-nourished babies pa.s.s through the gauntlet of childhood illnesses.

Plant s.p.a.cing: The Key to Water-Wise Gardening

Reduced plant density is the essence of dry gardening. The recommended s.p.a.cings in this section are those I have found workable at Elkton, Oregon. My dry garden is generally laid out in single rows, the row centers 4 feet apart. Some larger crops, like potatoes, tomatoes, beans, and cucurbits (squash, cuc.u.mbers, and melons) are allocated more elbow room. Those few requiring intensive irrigation are grown on a raised bed, tightly s.p.a.ced. I cannot prescribe what would be the perfect, most efficient s.p.a.cing for your garden. Are your temperatures lower than mine and evaporation less?

Or is your weather hotter? Does your soil hold more, than less than, or just as much available moisture as mine? Is it as deep and open and moisture retentive?

To help you compare your site with mine, I give you the following data. My homestead is only 25 miles inland and is always several degrees cooler in summer than the Willamette Valley. Washingtonians and British Columbians have cooler days and a greater likelihood of significant summertime rain and so may plant a little closer together. Inland gardeners farther south or in the Willamette Valley may want to spread their plants out a little farther.

Living on 16 acres, I have virtually unlimited s.p.a.ce to garden in.

The focus of my recent research has been to eliminate irrigation as much as possible while maintaining food quality. Those with thinner soil who are going to depend more on fertigation may plant closer, how close depending on the amount of water available. More irrigation will also give higher per-square-foot yields.

_Whatever your combination of conditions, your results can only be determined by trial._ I'd suggest you become water-wise by testing a range of s.p.a.cings.

When to Plant

If you've already been growing an irrigated year-round garden, this book's suggested planting dates may surprise you. And as with s.p.a.cing, sowing dates must also be wisely adjusted to your location.

The planting dates in this chapter are what I follow in my own garden. It is impractical to include specific dates for all the microclimatic areas of the maritime Northwest and for every vegetable species. Readers are asked to make adjustments by understanding their weather relative to mine.

Gardeners to the north of me and at higher elevations should make their spring sowings a week or two later than the dates I use. In the Garden Valley of Roseburg and south along I-5, start spring plantings a week or two earlier. Along the southern Oregon coast and in northern California, start three or four weeks sooner than I do.

Fall comes earlier to the north of me and to higher-elevation gardens; end-of-season growth rates there also slow more profoundly than they do at Elkton. Summers are cooler along the coast; that has the same effect of slowing late-summer growth. Items started after midsummer should be given one or two extra growing weeks by coastal, high-elevation, and northern gardeners. Gardeners to the south should sow their late crops a week or two later than I do; along the south Oregon coast and in northern California, two to four weeks later than I do.

Arugula (Rocket)

The tender, peppery little leaves make winter salads much more interesting.

_Sowing date:_ I delay sowing until late August or early September so my crowded patch of arugula lasts all winter and doesn't make seed until March. Pregerminated seeds emerge fast and strong.

Sprouted in early October, arugula still may reach eating size in midwinter.

_s.p.a.cing:_ Thinly seed a row into any vacant niche. The seedlings will be insignificantly small until late summer.

_Irrigation:_ If the seedlings suffer a bit from moisture stress they'll catch up rapidly when the fall rains begin.

_Varieties:_ None.

Beans of All Sorts

Heirloom pole beans once climbed over considerable compet.i.tion while vigorously struggling for water, nutrition, and light. Modern bush varieties tend to have puny root systems.

_Sowing date:_ Mid-April is the usual time on the Umpqua, elsewhere, sow after the danger of frost is over and soil stays over 60[de]F.

If the earth is getting dry by this date, soak the seed overnight before sowing and furrow down to moist soil. However, do not cover the seeds more than 2 inches.

_s.p.a.cing:_ Twelve to 16 inches apart at final thinning. Allow about 2[f]1/2 to 3 feet on either side of the trellis to avoid root compet.i.tion from other plants.

_Irrigation:_ If part of the garden is sprinkler irrigated, s.p.a.ce beans a little tighter and locate the bean trellis toward the outer reach of the sprinkler's throw. Due to its height, the trellis tends to intercept quite a bit of water and dumps it at the base. You can also use the bucket-drip method and fertigate the beans, giving about 25 gallons per 10 row-feet once or twice during the summer.

Pole beans can make a meaningful yield without any irrigation; under severe moisture stress they will survive, but bear little.

_Varieties:_ Any of the pole types seem to do fine. Runner beans seem to prefer cooler locations but are every bit as drought tolerant as ordinary snap beans. My current favorites are Kentucky Wonder White Seeded, Fortrex (TSC, JSS), and Musica (TSC).

The older heirloom dry beans were mostly pole types. They are reasonably productive if allowed to sprawl on the ground without support. Their unirrigated seed yield is lower, but the seed is still plump, tastes great, and sprouts well. Compared to unirrigated Black Coco (TSC), which is my most productive and best-tasting bush cultivar, Kentucky Wonder Brown Seeded (sometimes called Old Homestead) (STK, PEA, ABL) yields about 50 percent more seed and keeps on growing for weeks after Coco has quit. Do not bother to fertigate untrellised pole beans grown for dry seed. With the threat of September moisture always looming over dry bean plots, we need to encourage vines to quit setting and dry down. Peace Seeds and Abundant Life offer long lists of heirloom vining dry bean varieties.

Serious self-sufficiency buffs seeking to produced their own legume supply should also consider the fava, garbanzo bean, and Alaska pea.

Many favas can be overwintered: sow in October, sprout on fall rains, grow over the winter, and dry down in June with the soil.

Garbanzos are grown like mildly frost-tolerant peas. Alaska peas are the type used for pea soup. They're spring sown and grown like ordinary sh.e.l.ling peas. Avoid overhead irrigation while seeds are drying down.

Beets

Beets will root far deeper and wider than most people realize--in uncompacted, nonacid soils. Double or triple dig the subsoil directly below the seed row.

_Sowing date:_ Early April at Elkton, late March farther south, and as late as April 30 in British Columbia. Beet seed germinates easily in moist, cool soil. A single sowing may be harvested from June through early March the next year. If properly thinned, good varieties remain tender.

_s.p.a.cing:_ A single row will gradually exhaust subsoil moisture from an area 4 feet wide. When the seedlings are 2 to 3 inches tall, thin carefully to about 1 inch apart. When the edible part is radish size, thin to 2 inches apart and eat the thinings, tops and all.

When they've grown to golfball size, thin to 4 inches apart, thin again. When they reach the size of large lemons, thin to 1 foot apart. Given this much room and deep, open soil, the beets will continue to grow through the entire summer. Hill up some soil over the huge roots early in November to protect them from freezing.

_Irrigation:_ Probably not necessary with over 4 feet of deep, open soil.

_Varieties:_ I've done best with Early Wonder Tall Top; when large, it develops a thick, protective skin and retains excellent eating quality. Winterkeepers, normally sown in midsummer with irrigation, tend to bolt prematurely when sown in April.

Broccoli: Italian Style

Italian-style broccoli needs abundant moisture to be tender and make large flowers. Given enough elbow room, many varieties can endure long periods of moisture stress, but the smaller, woody, slow-developing florets won't be great eating. Without any irrigation, spring-sown broccoli may still be enjoyed in early summer and Purple Sprouting in March/April after overwintering.

_Sowing date:_Without any irrigation at all, mid-March through early April. With fertigation, also mid-April through mid-May. This later sowing will allow cutting through summer.

_s.p.a.cing:_ Brocoli tastes better when big plants grow big, sweet heads. Allow a 4-foot-wide row. s.p.a.ce early sowings about 3 feet apart in the row; later sowings slated to mature during summer's heat can use 4 feet. On a fist-sized spot compacted to restore capillarity, sow a little pinch of seed atop a well-and deeply fertilized, double-dug patch of earth. Thin gradually to the best single plant by the time three or four true leaves have developed.

_Irrigation:_ After mid-June, 4 to 5 gallons of drip bucket liquid fertilizer every two to three weeks makes an enormous difference.

You'll be surprised at the size of the heads and the quality of side shoots. A fertigated May sowing will be exhausted by October. Take a chance: a heavy side-dressing of strong compost or complete organic fertilizer when the rains return may trigger a ma.s.sive spurt of new, larger heads from buds located below the soil's surface.

_Varieties:_ Many hybrids have weak roots. I'd avoid anything that was "held up on a tall stalk" for mechanical harvest or was "compact" or that "didn't have many side-shoots". Go for larger size. Territorial's hybrid blend yields big heads for over a month followed by abundant side shoots. Old, open-pollinated types like Italian Sprouting Calabrese, DeCicco, or Waltham 29 are highly variable, bushy, with rather coa.r.s.e, large-beaded flowers, second-rate flavor and many, many side shoots. Irrigating gardeners who can start new plants every four weeks from May through July may prefer hybrids. Dry gardeners who will want to cut side shoots for as long as possible during summer from large, well-established plants may prefer crude, open-pollinated varieties. Try both.

Broccoli: Purple Sprouting and Other Overwintering Types

_s.p.a.cing:_ Grow like broccoli, 3 to 4 feet apart.