Veggie Gardening

This was another great year for vegetable gardeners, at least through the spring. June and July have been pretty dry but our gardens got regular rainfall and mild weather all winter and spring, making for some prime conditions.

You might be thinking, why talk about it now? “I’ll plant a few peppers and tomatoes next April.”

If you wait until then though, you miss out on a great gardening season.

If your soil is ready to go, you can plant tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, corn, beans, and squash in early August for fall dinners, and cool season plants like spinach, lettuce, carrots, radish, and sugar snap peas in September - October for late fall and winter harvesting. I even plant carrots at 1 month intervals starting in September through November and have fresh carrots to eat from December through March.

Depending on what kind of winter we have, you can start planting onions, cabbage and other cool season plants in December - February. Just keep a frost blanket handy in case we get a hard freeze for several days.

Most winters give us regular rain and mild conditions, perfect for plants like broccoli, spinach, and lettuce that just can’t take our summer heat.

A spring harvest from the Hoover veggie patch. This year was great for broccoli, lettuce, cabbage, and carrots.

Incidentally, kids get a thrill from planting a seed and seeing a plant grow from that simple act. A garden is a great real-life classroom for them to learn about natural processes. And who knows? It may even entice them to eat something they have refused in the past if they grow it themselves!

"Hmmm, maybe fruits and veggies aren't so bad after all"