🍅 Vegetables, Herbs & Garlic
🍅 Vegetable Starts
Tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, cucumbers, squash, lettuce and greens.
• Timing: Warm crops (tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, cucumbers, squash) go out after the last frost, about mid-May, when the soil is 60°F or warmer. Lettuce and greens go in early spring or late summer for fall.
• Sun: Full sun, 8+ hours for fruiting crops; lettuce appreciates afternoon shade in summer.
• Water: 1–1½ inches a week, watered deeply at the soil line. Even watering helps prevent blossom-end rot and cracked tomatoes. Mulch to hold moisture.
• Fertilizer: Mix compost and a balanced vegetable fertilizer into the soil at planting. Side-dress tomatoes, peppers and eggplant when the first fruits set. Too much nitrogen means leaves, not fruit.
• Support: Stake or cage tomatoes at planting. Give cucumbers a trellis.
• Pests & problems: Tomato hornworms (hand-pick), flea beetles on eggplant, cucumber beetles, and early blight (remove lower leaves, water at the base, rotate where you plant each year).
• End of season: Warm crops die at the first frost (early to mid-October here) — pick everything first. Full-size, pale-green tomatoes ripen on the counter.
🌿 Herbs
Basil, rosemary, oregano, thyme, sage, parsley, cilantro and dill.
• Sun & soil: Full sun and well-drained soil for nearly all herbs.
• Basil: Hates cold — plant after nights stay above 50°F. Pinch the tops often and remove flower buds to keep it producing.
• Rosemary: Zones 8–10 (a few varieties to 7), so it won't survive our winters outside. Grow it in a pot and bring it in to a sunny window before frost.
• Oregano, thyme and sage: Hardy perennials in Zone 6b. Cut back by one-third in spring; don’t overwater.
• Parsley: Biennial — it overwinters and goes to seed the second year.
• Cilantro and dill: Cool-season herbs that bolt in summer heat. Sow a little every 3 weeks in spring and again in late summer.
• Fertilizer: Very little — a light feeding once or twice a season. Overfed herbs lose flavor.
🧄 Garlic
Our hardneck varieties: German Extra Hardy, Music, Romanian Red, Chesnok Red and Korean Red.
• Zone: 3–8 — hardneck garlic thrives in Northwest Ohio’s cold winters.
• Planting: Mid-October to early November. Break bulbs into cloves, plant pointy end up, 2 inches deep and 6 inches apart, in rich, well-drained soil in full sun.
• Winter care: After the ground cools, mulch with 4–6 inches of straw. Pull some back in spring when shoots appear.
• Water: About 1 inch a week in spring. Stop watering about two weeks before harvest.
• Fertilizer: A nitrogen-rich feeding in early spring and again by early May as the leaves grow. None after the scapes appear.
• Scapes: In June, cut the curly flower stalks (scapes) once they loop — the bulbs get bigger, and scapes are delicious in pesto and stir-fries.
• Harvest & curing: Dig when the lower 3–4 leaves turn brown (late June to July). Cure in the shade with good airflow for 2–3 weeks, then trim and store somewhere cool and dry.
🍄 Mushroom Logs (Coming Soon)
Shiitake and oyster logs you can grow at home.
• Placement: Full shade — under trees or on the north side of a building — raised off the ground on a brick or pallet.
• Water: Keep the log moist; soak or water it during dry spells. The bark should never dry out completely.
• Fruiting: Once established, soak the log in cold water for 12–24 hours to trigger a flush. Pins show up in 3–5 days, and mushrooms are usually ready to pick 7–12 days after the soak. Rest the log 6–8 weeks between soakings.
• Winter care: Logs overwinter outdoors in the shade; force flushes only while nights stay above about 50°F.
• Harvest: Pick when the caps open but before the edges flatten and curl. Only eat mushrooms you can positively identify, and always cook them.
📖 Plant Care Guides — 5 parts
1. Zone Finder & Storage
2. Citrus & Tropicals
3. Trees, Shrubs & Perennials
4. Flowers & Hanging Baskets
5. Vegetables, Herbs & Garlic (you are here)
🐞 For a full pest and disease guide and our Zone 6b planting calendar, see our Garden Guides.
🧼 Wash all produce before eating, and read our Food Safety & Disclaimers.
❓ Questions? Email info@poeslittlefarm.com or text “Poe’s” and your question to 419-349-8242 (texting hours Mon–Fri 9 am–5 pm, Sat 10 am–3 pm) — we’re happy to help.