Vegetable Gardening in Mississippi
What to Plant
Select vegetables and the amount to plant by looking forward to harvest and how you will use the vegetables. There’s no sense in planting something that won’t be used.
Available garden space should be a factor in selecting the vegetables to grow. Some vegetables take a lot of garden space for a long time, while others are planted and harvested in a short time period, producing a lot in a little space. Melons, pumpkins, vining types of squash, and sweet potatoes are in the garden for a long time, yet the harvest period is relatively short. Okra, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, and pole beans are also in the garden a long time, but these produce a continuous supply of food.
Sweet corn is one of those vegetables you just have to plant despite how much space it takes (expect to harvest one ear per plant) because it is so good.
Vegetables to consider for small gardens (because of the space they need and the amount they produce) are bush snap and lima beans; leafy greens like lettuce, spinach, mustard, and turnips; green onions; tomatoes; sweet peppers; and eggplant. As space permits, add broccoli, cabbage, hot peppers, okra, summer squash, southern peas, and pole beans. Cucumbers, which normally take a lot of ground space, can be trellised.
Irish and sweet potatoes are productive for the amount of garden space required but present a storage problem when harvested.
Plant varieties recommended for growing in Mississippi. Don’t continue to use old vegetable varieties when there are new varieties available that resist disease and give higher yields and quality. For example, fusarium wilt is still a major disease problem on tomatoes in some Mississippi gardens where the older varieties are planted. All recommended tomato varieties are resistant to this disease.
The amount of sunlight the garden receives can help you determine which vegetables to grow. Ideally, the garden site should receive full sun all day. This is not always possible, especially when the garden is located on a small residential lot where shade trees block the sun for part of the day.
Where there is no full sun space, plant vegetables in various spots around the house. All vegetables grown for their fruits or seeds, such as corn, tomatoes, squash, cucumbers, eggplant, peppers, beans, and peas, should have the sunniest spots.
Vegetables grown for their leaves or roots, such as beets, cabbage, lettuce, mustard, chard, spinach, and turnips, can grow in partial shade but do better in direct sunlight.