I live in the mid-South, but gardeners in other areas of the country can grow a fall crop of spinach too. It needs 45 days to mature before the first frost date in your area and with the use of cold frames or frost blankets its possible to push past this date as well.

Spinach seeds can be sown in rows directly into the beds. In containers, broadcast the seeds over the entire soil surface. Cover them with a thin layer of soil about ½-inch deep and water. Then keep the bed consistently moist. If the plants are slow to grow or the leaves are too pale, feed them with a fertilizer that is high in nitrogen following the directions on the package.

When ready to harvest either cut the entire plant off at the ground, or pick outer leaves that are dark green in color and about 3 to 6 inches long. Wash and store spinach in an air tight container in the refrigerator. It will keep for about a week.

This year I’m trying a variety called Bloomsdale Longstanding. I grew this in my spring garden with excellent results. It is a heat tolerant spinach that kept producing well after the temperatures started to warm up. I had such a good crop that I decided to try it again this fall. This variety produces dark green, thick and heavily crinkled leaves that are perfect for pairing with apples, using in sautés or wilted salads.

Side Bar: If you’d like to try something different plant New Zealand spinach. Although it is not a true spinach, it has the great same flavor and the vining habit and sharply pointed leaves make it a unique addition to the garden. It’s also highly heat tolerant, continuing to flourish even after summer heat sets in.

Pear and Spinach Salad

Vinaigrette:
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/4 cup water
• 2 cloves fresh garlic
• 1 teaspoon lemon pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Salad:
• 2 bundles of fresh spinach
• 2 pears or oranges
• lemon juice
•1 red onion
• 1 cup walnuts (or substitute pecans or almonds)

Instructions

Begin by making the vinaigrette. To the vinegar add the honey and extra virgin olive oil. Next add the water and blend.

Now for a little spice. I like to use about 2 cloves of crushed fresh garlic, 1 teaspoon of lemon pepper and about 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Then I just stir the mixture until it's well blended.
There's just something about the chemistry of the honey and the balsamic vinegar. When they come together they are the perfect accent for the spinach salad. Wait to add the dressing until you're ready to serve the salad and then just toss it altogether.

To make the salad start by rinsing and removing the stems from the fresh spinach.
Thinly slice a couple of fresh pears. To keep the pears from turning brown squeeze a touch of lemon juice over them.

To the pears add some thinly sliced rings of red onion. Mix the pears and onions into the spinach.

To give the salad some extra crunch toast walnuts on a baking sheet for about 15 minutes in the oven at 300 degrees. You can use walnuts, pecans or almonds.

Because lettuce and other salad greens germinate so quickly, it’s easy to grow a salad garden inside on a sunny windowsill. What I like to do is grow a mix of “baby greens,” which means I harvest the leaves before the plant matures. I mix these baby greens in with store bought lettuce for a flavorful salad or snip off a few leaves to top off sandwiches.

Micro greens are another way to enjoy fresh lettuce during the winter months. Micro greens are harvested when they have about 4 leaves. They may be small, but they are very flavorful.

Growing baby salad greens and micro greens couldn’t be easier. Simply sow the seeds in sterile potting soil, cover them with a dusting of soil and keep the seeds moist by lightly misting them with water daily. Keep the pots in a warm location until they begin to sprout and then move them to a sunny window. If the plants look spindly or anemic, they need more light. The baby salad greens may require as much as 12 hours of light for healthy growth. A grow light is an easy remedy for this problem. Hang the lights about 6 to 12 inches above the plants.

Micro greens are ready to harvest in about 14 days. Clip the seedlings off close to the soil. Baby salad greens will be ready in about 3 to 4 weeks. Trim them off at the base, starting with the outside leaves first.

For more outdoor living and gardening tips visit www.pallensmith.com.

SIDEBAR:
Good Choices for Baby Greens: lettuce, arugula, basil, spinach, chard, red mustard

Good Choices for Micro Greens: radish, broccoli, lettuce, mustard greens, peas, sunflowers

One plant that I always make room for in my garden is the gourd vine. Like moonflowers and morning glories this rapidly growing, sprawling vine is perfect for summer interest. Grown on fences or trellises gourds produce large leaves, yellow or white flowers and, of course, funky shaped fruits.

This year I planted Ferry-Morse Bird House Gourds (Lagenaria sicerana). These are the type that look like they have been squeezed in the middle creating bulbous ends. I sowed the seeds in early summer beside two pyramid trellises, which the vines quickly covered.

Now that summer is over it will soon be time to harvest the fruits and set them out to dry.

The best way to tell if a gourd is ready to harvest is by look and feel. The vine will begin to die back and the skin of the gourd will be hard and pale. An immature gourd feels fleshy and is bright green.

I’ve read conflicting advice about harvesting gourds before or after the first frost. Some people contend that fruits should be gathered before a frost while others maintain that you can leave them on the vine to dry, even after a hard freeze. Experience has taught me that when you harvest them depends on if the gourds are fully ripened. Frosts will damage immature fruits, but these won’t dry successfully anyway. Because I was influenced by parents who grew up during the Depression and didn’t throw anything away, I can’t bear to waste any gourds so I collect the immature fruits and use them as temporary decorations. I leave the mature gourds on the vine until I do my fall clean up, which is usually after the first killing frost.

The only other draw back to leaving gourds out after a frost is that the cold temperatures will damage the seeds. So if you are hoping to save seeds for sowing next year, bring in all your gourds before the first frost.

When you are ready to harvest, it’s important to cut gourds from the vine rather than pulling or twisting them away. Use sharp pruners so you can make a nice, clean cut. And leave about 2 inches of stem intact. This little bit of stem is important because it facilitates the evaporation of water. Gourds are about 90 percent water. When they dry moisture escaped through both the porous skin and the stem.

This next step isn’t mandatory, but it does help. Gently clean the gourds to remove dirt and wipe them down with a diluted bleach solution – 2 tablespoons bleach to 1 gallon of water. This process removes bacteria and helps to prevent rotting.

Gourds should be dried in an area that has good air circulation. This is very important. In fact, they can be left outside to dry. Just remember that the cold will damage the seeds. I dry mine in the garage. Place them on a card board mat, with enough space between them so that they are not touching.

Now, here’s the hard part. You need to leave them alone. Aside from rotating them occasionally and removing the ones that are rotting, let them dry for a month or more. Large, heavy gourds may take as long as 6 months to completely dry.

You may find that a crust or mold appears on the gourds as they dry. This is normal and not a sign that they have gone bad. After they have completely dried wash them in warm soapy water with a steel wool pad. This will remove the residue, although the mold will leave behind interesting patterns. Be careful when handling the gourds if you are allergic to mold.

Once the gourds are clean, wipe them with a cloth and let them dry thoroughly. You can lightly sand the shell with a fine sandpaper to prepare it for painting, varnishing or waxing. Just be aware that sanding might leave faint scratches behind.

I like to bring out the natural tones of large gourds. What works for me and gives them a nice shine is just an ordinary paste wax.

For more outdoor living and gardening tips visit www.pallensmith.com.

When it comes to creating a sense of hopeful expectation there is not much in the gardening world that can compare to a packet of seeds. There is so much promise in such a little package. At the moment I have a stack of new seed catalogs to browse through and daydream about all the vegetables, flowers and herbs that I will grow in my garden this year. Because it is such a small investment, it is easy to go overboard with the number of varieties I purchase. I call this condition seed mania. Last year I bought seeds for nine different varieties of lettuce and six varieties of tomatoes. I knew I didn't have the space to grow all this, but I wanted the opportunity to try.

Whatever form your seed mania takes, whether it is browsing seed catalogs for new additions to your garden, shopping at your favorite local garden center or exchanging tried and true favorites with friends, I hope that you enjoy it. At no other time in the year does the garden hold so much promise.

Ferry-Morse Seed Company is the official seed supplier for the Garden Home Retreat. Below is a list of seeds that I have ordered.

1. Arugula
2. ‘Blue Bedder’ Salvia
3. ‘Crimsonia’ Dianthus
4. ‘Dwarf Blue Curled ‘Kale
5. ‘Extra Triple Curled’ Parsley
6. ‘Gold Dust’ Alyssum
7. ‘Green Curlee’ Endive
8. ‘King Henry the Eighth’ Hollyhock
9. ‘Michihili’ Chinese Cabbage
10. ‘Mixed Varieties’ Cactus
11. Orange Butterfly Flowers
12. ‘Oriental Orange Scarlet’ Poppy
13. ‘Oriental Red’ Poppy
14. ‘Purple Peony’ Poppy
15. ‘Shirohada’ Burdock
16. ‘Summer Carnival Blush Pink’ Hollyhock
17. ‘Summer Carnival Rosy Red’ Hollyhock
18. ‘Summer Carnival Yellow’ Hollyhock
19. ‘Summer Pastels’ Achillea
20. ‘Violet’ Cathedral Bells

I covet sweet peas for their heavenly fragrance and old-fashioned simplicity. These little vining flowers are a delight to see and smell. Sadly, they can be a tricky annual for me to grow. They prefer cool temperatures, but won't withstand a frost. If I sow them in early spring in my zone 7 garden they are likely to get wiped out by a late frost. Unfortunately, mid-South springs tend to be short, so if I try sowing them any later the plants melt in the heat before they have time to bloom.

With the addition of my new greenhouse it's a whole new ball game. I can start the seeds in the greenhouse in February and move the pots outdoors after the threat of frost has passed. This will give them the head start they need to bloom before spring ends.

Gardeners in climates with long, cool springs can sow sweet peas outdoors as soon as the threat of frost has passed. If you are like me and need to first sow them indoors, get them started about 6 to 8 weeks before the last frost date in your area.

To encourage good seed germination it is best to soak the seeds in water a few hours before you sow them. This helps to soften the outer covering of the seed.

Provide support as soon as clinging tendrils are formed. I find that little twigs are perfect for the job.

When it comes time to transplant your sweet peas, choose a spot that receives full sun. They like a sweet soil with a pH of 7 or 8, so if you know that your soil is acidic add garden lime to make it more alkaline. Be sure to following the package directions on the garden lime bag. Sweet peas have relatively extensive roots, so the soil should be friable at least 24 inches deep.

Provide immediate support for your young seedlings. Metal can get hot on warm spring days, so try twine or twigs.

Once they are up and flowering, you will want to do everything you can to keep the plants full of blooms. One of the best ways to encourage continuous flowering is to cut bouquets for the house. I like to cut the blooms about every other day. Flowers remaining on the plant will develop into seed pods. It's a good idea to remove the flowers before this happens because you want the plant's energy to go into creating more blossoms, not seed.

For more gardening tips and garden design ideas visit www.PAllenSmith.com.

P. Allen Smith April 2008 Blog

Salad Garden

Each spring I eagerly anticipate starting what I call my salad garden. The season’s cool temperatures are ideal for growing some of my favorite greens. I grow plenty of arugula and a wide range of leafy salad greens, such as my favorite Buttercrunch lettuce in my raised bed vegetable garden.

For a little bit of a jump on the season, I like to start my salad garden with young transplants that I purchase from a local garden center. But since lettuce germinates so easily, I also sow seeds for a second crop. In no time my vegetable bed will be full of delicious, crisp lettuce.

Lettuce and other cool weather crops such as green onions, radishes, English peas and broccoli will germinate as soon as the soil begins to warm a bit.

Many salad greens grow so quickly I can harvest several crops by planting the seeds every two weeks before it is time to plant the warm season vegetables such as tomatoes, peppers and squash.

If you don''t have room for raised beds or a vegetable garden, don’t despair. You might try growing some salad greens in containers. Just sprinkle a few seeds in containers filled with potting soil, lightly cover the seed, keep the soil moist and place the containers in the full sun. Before you know it, you’ll be cutting fresh greens for your table.