Get Your Vegetable Garden Growing

Get Your Vegetable Garden Growing

By: Joy Sailor

February is here and the time for planting vegetables has come.  Although it is still foggy and maybe a little frosty at times there are plants that can withstand and in some cases even produce better when planted in the cool soil.  There are four groupings of vegetables: hardy, half hardy, tender, and very tender.  Because it is still cold we are going to focus on the hardy and half hardy which can be planted now.  In our northern Mediterranean climate the soils should be ready to work with, but you want to make sure it’s not muddy.  So what do we plant now? 

Greens are a cool weather plant which means planting everything from lettuce and spinach to Chinese cabbage.  You will see the harvest of most of these in May.  Chard and beets can also be planted now not only because it is a half hardy plant but also because it is both a cool and warm weather plant.  So come summer you will reap a harvest of chard from what you plant now, and then plant them again in late summer in the warm weather.  Broccoli, kale, cabbage, and cauliflower, better known as the brassica family, can all be planted now as well.  All of these fall in the hardy category except cauliflower which is a half hardy vegetable. 

A few weeks after you have planted the first set it’s time to plant some root crops.  Turnips, carrots, beets, radishes and even peas like the cool weather.  Not only do they grow better in cool soil but they taste better when they grow in cool weather.  Again, all of these except the beets fall under the hardy crops so there should be no problem with them dying out.  For these plants you will see a harvest anywhere from April to May.  The radishes will be the first to pop up. 

Just a quick side note on some great cooking additives you can plant in seed trays now are mint, thyme, oregano, and marjoram.  You will see a harvest from these in April and May.  Dill, tarragon, parsley, rosemary and sage can all be planted directly in the garden.  Except for the horseradish which you won’t see until July, the rest will be ready to harvest in May. 

The time has come my friends so buy your seeds, take your clippings, put on your favorite pair of gloves and go forth and plant.