One-Block Feast: Spring Garden Plan

Best Site: Full sun or part shade and well-drained or sandy soil.

Days to Harvest: 45 to 60 days from seed.

Planting and Care: For an early summer harvest, sow seeds in March or April, or for a spring harvest, sow in October in mild-winter or hot-summer areas. Plant the large seeds 10 to 12 inches part and 1 inch deep. Keep the soil well watered throughout the growing season. Dig a little compost into the soil before planting and your nasturtiums won’t need fertilizer.

How to Harvest: Pick leaves and flowers as you need them. For the best flavor, harvest them early in the morning when temperatures are cool.

Seed Source: Renee’s Garden.

Radish ‘Easter Egg II’ 

Among the easiest vegetables to grow, radishes are also fast to mature. We especially like ‘Easter Egg II’, a feast for the eyes that blends pink, rose, purple, and white radishes in one colorful mix. All have crisp, juicy white flesh. The best part: You can harvest from 2 to 5 pounds per 10-foot row!

Best Site: Full sun in mild climates and part shade where it is hot; fast-draining soil that’s been well amended with compost.

Days to Harvest: 25 days from seed.

Planting and Care: Sow seeds as soon as the soil is workable in spring, then at weekly intervals until warm weather approaches (plants go to seed when temperatures rise). In mild climates, you can also sow seeds at regular intervals in fall and winter. Plant the seeds 1/2 inch deep and 1 inch apart in rows 1 to 11/2 inches apart. Keep the soil evenly moist from seed to harvest. Ten days after planting, feed with a dry or liquid fertilizer (any kind), applying it alongside the rows.

How to Harvest: Pick as soon as radishes reach full size (about 3 weeks after sowing, as noted above, but longer for slower varieties). If you leave them in the ground too long, they will turn woody and too pungent to eat.

Seed Source: Burpee.

Strawberry ‘Sequoia’ 

Nothing tastes sweeter than a plump, sun-warmed strawberry picked at the peak of ripeness. It is nature’s best dessert—divinely succulent and juicy, low in calories (about 50 per cup), and high in vitamin C. If you only have room for growing one crop, we suggest this one, since many commercial harvests are treated with chemicals.

We chose ‘Sequoia’, a locally adapted variety that bears its entire crop once a year. (It is called a “June bearer,” but we had berries in May.) The plants reach 6 to 8 inches tall and spread by runners about 12 inches across. The berries are large and luscious.