LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — People always say that you should always wait to plant your flowers and gardens until after Derby, but there are in fact some crops that need to go in the ground before you hear the call to the post.
“Cold crops,” or early season plants, give your vegetable garden a head start for the spring season. The winter months were cold and long, so everybody is ready to get in the ground and get some color back into their life!
Before you plant, Jeff Wallitsch with Wallitsch Gardens said you have to get a little dirty first and pull some weeds.
“If you’re starting to pull and they’re difficult to come out, you can go ahead and water,” Wallitsch said. “I know it sounds kind of funny, but you can water the weeds and then it helps pull things out.”
Cold crops include lettuce, cabbage, kale, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, beets, and more.
Now, time to plant! The roots should be broken up some before they are stuck into the ground.
Since they’re called “cold crops,” the name speaks for itself.
“They’re not going to last all summer long, this is pretty much just the start of your vegetable garden,” Wallitsch said.
When it starts to get really hot and humid out, you’ll see them start to trickle away. By mid May when people are starting to plant their tomatoes and peppers, it’s safe to pull them out of the ground.
Don’t forget a slow-release, all-natural fertilizer, because you always should feed your veggies before eating your veggies!
