Help with Vegetable Gardens

The Pandemic hit – I stayed home, planted a vegetable garden and now I need some help

Overcrowding When you planted your seeds or seedlings, they were so small that you may have planted too many of them or placed them too close together.  As the weather warms up, the plants have really started growing very fast.  Even veteran gardeners are astonished how fast vegetables grow this time of year.

Try staking up plants that are overshadowing their neighbors and thinning plants like lettuce, kale and chard – either by harvesting leaves to use that evening or by harvesting every other plant in your row to give the remaining plants room to grow.

Have too much to eat?  See a new way to donate your excess produce on the sidebar on the right.

Harvesting How do I know my vegetables are ready to pick?  Many new gardeners wait too long to harvest.  Pick snow peas and beans every day or every other day.  Cut broccoli heads before they start to flower, even if the heads are smaller than the ones in the grocery store.  They will grow side shoots that are also great to eat.  Once your radishes, lettuce, chard, or kale start to flower, it’s time to pull them up and plant again.  

Corvallis Backyard CSA

Have more produce from your garden than your family can eat, especially after you’ve thinned your crowded plants?  Consider donating to the Corvallis Backyard CSA whose mission is inclusion for all people in Corvallis.  It does this by delivering produce boxes to families from different cultures (Asian, Middle Eastern, and Latin American) while building mutually supportive relationships with these families.  Contact Sandie Cheung  sandi.cheung@gmail.com to find out how you can drop off produce that will be added to the CSA boxes.  The boxes are delivered to families every Thursday.   

Interested in learning how else you can support the Corvallis Backyard CSA?  Contact Rachel Barnhart for more information at rachel@shonnards.com or text/call at 503-779-8570.