The per acre value of a farm vegetable garden is 20 to 30 times the per acre value of a canola, pea, wheat or barley crop on the Prairies.
So says Ieuan Evans, plant pathologist and crop adviser with Agri-Trend Agrology.
“One acre of garden equals 50 acres of canola,” the avid horticulturist told a Feb. 16 workshop in Lethbridge. “Remember that.”
Evans advised farm gardeners to develop several garden areas on their properties to maintain fertility and provide effective weed control. As well, he recommended rejuvenating any garden older than 20 years.
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He said farmers starting a new garden plot should first plant the new area to canola, fertilizing for a 60 to 80 bushel crop and then turning the canola under after flowering.
They should then plant the area to peas for their nitrogen fixation capacity and turn over the crop after the first pods form.
Evans doesn’t recommend crop rotation in the vegetable garden unless disease or serious weed problems develop.
“Don’t be obsessed with rotation. It has its place, but think about whether you need it,” he said.
“If you do notice problems, do the rotation. And potatoes you have to rotate because they bring their own diseases with them.”
Evans said this is a good time of year for gardeners who save seed from year to year to do germination tests.
A quick and easy test involves a plastic pie plate lined with wet paper towels. The seeds should be placed on the moist towels and then sealed in a plastic bag.
Counting the sprouts after several days will give a clear indication of seed viability.
“A lot of seeds will last a long time, especially if you keep them cool,” said Evans.
He recommended fridge storage rather than freezer storage. Small seeds will remain viable longer than large ones.
He doesn’t approve of shelterbelts around vegetable gardens, although he acknowledged their use is common.
He said shelterbelt trees rob gardens of water and provide a habitat for garden pests such as mice, birds and deer.
When an existing shelterbelt borders a garden, he recommended ripping the soil at about 2 metres from the edge of the trees to damage the roots on the garden side.
“This will cut off 99 percent of the water robbing roots in your gardens and give much better vegetable yield,” he said in his garden handout material.
He also advocated use of plastic windbreak material for gardens, which he said can be erected cheaply. It will also prevent deer damage if installed on eight-foot fencing.
Commercial fertilizers and livestock manure are suitable for the farm garden, he said.
Poultry manure at two to three tons per acre will supply most nutrients, but cattle manure or liquid hog manure will also require additional nitrogen application.
“All garden crops, with the exception of tomatoes, raspberries and strawberries, should be fertilized as you would for a 50 bu. crop of canola, at least,” he said. “That means there should be 140 to 150 pounds of nitrogen available per acre.”
BEST PRACTICES FOR PRAIRIE VEGETABLE GARDENS
•Have two to three designated vegetable garden areas on every farm
•Rotate vegetable garden areas every five to six years
•Get rid of treed shelterbelts
•Put in windscreens if necessary
•Set up a rainwater runoff irrigation system with a fenced pond
•Keep strawberries, raspberries, black currants, rhubarb and asparagus at one end of a semipermanent garden and use black plastic mulch to control weeds
•In gardens with shelterbelts, rip up the roots of the trees near the garden to prevent them from using available moisture.
Related vegetables that should not be grown in succession on same site:
•Potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, tomatillos
•Cucumbers, squash, melons, pumpkins, zucchini
•Carrots, parsnips, dill
•Beets, swiss chard, spinach
•Cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, turnips, rutabaga, kale, kohlrabi, radishes
•Beans, pole beans, peas, lentils, fababeans, soybeans
•Onions, shallots, chives, leeks, garlic
More about Ieuan Evans
Evans began his career with Alberta Agriculture as provincial plant pathologist.
He is the originator of the Evans cherry, now the No. 1 selling fruit tree in Canada with an estimated 500,000 sold.
He recently registered and named a dwarf mountain ash, Tangerine Treasures, a hybrid French lilac, Mr. Mauve Jangles, and two apples, Edmonton green and Edmonton gold.
He has an extensive Martagon lily breeding operation underway, including thousands of seedlings.
