Best Practices in the Vegetable Garden

Picture of the Day: last year's parsley!

It's not dead, until it's warm and dead!

Working in the garden yesterday, I uncovered last year's parsley. Parsley is not perenial here. It sure looks alive though. I guess I can hope.

Over the last couple years I have been trying to come up with the best practices and best seed selections for vegetable gardening in central Wisconsin. If you have any ideas or something that worked really well for you I am interested in hearing about it. I believe the best gardeners are observant gardeners.

I saw someone was looking for information on whether thunderstorms are good for the flower and vegetable garden. Our "air" is like 70% nitrogen (according to my chemistry-nut son). (Regardless, of whether he has his percent right, it is a big percentage.)

When it drizzles and gently rains for a long period during a day, it is gently bringing that nitrogen down to the soil so it is accessible to your plants. It is not your imagination that everything seems greener after a gentle spring rain. It is not only having all the moisture they need, but the extra nitrogen which is responsible for greening up foliage.

The flip side of rain is when it is torrential, it pushed the nitrogen down through the soil and away from the plants and their roots. I've seen corn, a big nitrogen lover, go from a nice blue green to a sickly yellow green after a period of excess and torrential rains. I'm sure many of you have seen corn that was fairly yellow looking in standing water or flooded areas.

So if it is nice gentle rains, like I imagine they typically have in Britain, it's all good. Those torrential rains we have had often the last few years in the Midwest, not so good.