So, the summer has almost gone, the garden has produced its goodness and you are just about ready to dig it all under and call it quits? Wait, don’t be so quick to stop on all the fun. You can have a winter garden, too! The Redding area affords us the ability to grow vegetables all year with a bit of foresight and preparation.
These vegetables actually do better during the fall, winter and early spring: peas, broccoli, kohlrabi, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, carrots, lettuce, onions and beets, among others.
Growing these plants during the winter avoids the hassles with insects that you would have during the summer. My broccoli becomes hopelessly filled with aphids tucked deep down inside the tight flower heads, cauliflower burns, and peas just peter out.
Starting seeds right now will give you a very early crop next spring, as well. I am ever mindful of keeping food about in case of emergency, and having a garden full of something to eat all year long appeals to me.
As you remove the spent summer plants, take time to rake away the old leaves and debris where insects and disease lurk. It is best to rotate what you grow each time, such as root crops, or the brassicas (broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, etc), to avoid build ups of bugs, and depletion of the soil.
I just did this with my bush beans. They produced quite well, but this last couple of weeks the insects really weakened the plants, so I opted to rip them out after one last harvest. I turned over the row and amended with organic fertilizers, raked smooth and planted my broccoli seeds.
I find it is best to start the seeds in flats ahead of time and have established plants to put out in the garden, but it does take more time and effort, so I am just planting seed directly in the garden, this year. Care has to be taken to keep the seeds moist until they germinate and establish themselves in our triple-digit heat.
You will find it very helpful to use row covers of white fabric available in most garden catalogs, to keep the seed bed moist and protect seedlings from the blistering heat. Since I use these covers year around, I find they are a worthy investment for a vegetable garden.
So, don’t wait until December comes and the new seed catalogs come in the mail, pore through your now-dogeared catalogs for your fall garden seeds and GET GROWING!
Here are some Tips from Stikrz:
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Keep all your old broken pottery and place the broken bottoms upside down in a shady part of your garden, like under large veggies. Snails and larger slugs will tend to congregate inside. Use short, flat pieces of wood to attract the smaller slugs.
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Bad snail year? Take your favorite flashlight and a small pail of hot soapy water. Visit your garden at night to round up the offending gastropods, and drop them into the water, it kills them fast and you don’t have to squish them. Salt takes too long and it is not good in the garden. Just don’t leave them sitting in the container for long. Ick.
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Need plant labels? Take an old set of plastic mini blinds and cut the slats to the desired size. They are sturdy, cheap and easy to write on with pencil or marking pen!
Mitsy Krzywicki (pronounced Kriz wik’ ki), a former Record Searchlight artist, now enjoys life as an avid gardener, freelance graphics artist and amateur photographer. You can drop her a line at czygyny@yahoo.com
