It is finally warm enough to get the vegetable garden started.  Weather planting in the directly in the ground, tubs and pots, or in an above ground bed, you need to work the soil.  Plow or till it up and maybe add some more organics like cow manure, cotton burr compost, topsoil or peat.  Pull the winter weeds out and get to planting.  

There is a granular product called Treflan that you can incorporate to help with the weeds from coming up.  Remember * corn is a weed according to Treflan, so don’t plant your corn there.  With all of this done, you are finally ready to go.  

Snap beans and pinto beans are the first to plant.  It takes about 1 pound to plant a 100 ft row.  Plant the seeds about 1/2 inch deep.  Some like to use a push seeder to do a faster job.  They are accurate and you can plant just about any kind of seed with the planter.  Snap beans come in a bush variety or pole.  You need to have a plan in place for the pole beans to climb on.  Lots of people use a wire cattle panel.  Running varieties include Kentucky Wonder, Blue Lake, Rattlesnake, and Purple Pod Pole( these are fun, they change color when you boil them from purple to green).  By far the most popular are the blue lake.  Bush snap beans are Contender, Blue Lake, and Commodore.  Blue lake seam to be the most popular there also.  Pinto Beans mostly planted are the Taylor Horticulture Improved Pinto.  

When planting sweet corn Sweet G90 is your main go to.  It is sort of a bicolor and is great served on or off the cobb.  Some plant pole beans next to the corn next to the corn and let the vines run up the stalk.  

13-13-13 fertilizer is great for the beans or the corn.  After the corn comes up about 4 ft high use some nitrate as an extra boost.

(Mitzi Thomas owns Minden Farm & Garden LLC. Watch for her column on Fridays in Webster Parish Journal.)