After gardening for only a few years, I’m still learning what grows best when. We can grow year round, but winter is a good time to grow the things that are normal. Carrots, onions, beets, broccoli and herbs do best in cooler weather. I’ve had success with all of these.
Cabbage
This year I planted a few cabbage seeds. I don’t have a lot of garden space, so I only grew a few. Now I am wishing I planted more! They took a long time to sprout. Once the cool air arrived, the big leaves began to show up. Now they are growing like mad. That is borage you may see amongst the cabbage leaves.
Next winter I will be adding more cabbage to my garden.
Although I had loads of Tatsoi and arugula last year, I’m struggling to grow it this year (photo below). I have been looking forward to having fresh greens, but I only have tiny little plants.
The Urban Harvest sells Tatsoi seeds and I didn’t get mine from them this year. I think they were sold out.
The Rest of It
Cherry Tomatoes
The Apricot cherry tomato plant is giving me a few tomatoes. I struggle to grow tomatoes so I’ll take what I can get. They are yellow, not red, but yummy.
Tomato plants may grow in summer here, but no tomatoes will form. This plant was begun in late summer from seed. It kept growing, in a fabric bag, and is now full of little tomatoes. I have one more cherry tomato plant I will put into the ground in February.
Squash and Zucchini
I am not fooled by this tiny squash and flower. Squash (of all kinds) and zucchini don’t amount to anything in my garden … ever. I won’t grow them any more. I threw some leftover seeds in just for fun. That little squash has since died.
Seminole Pumpkin Replaces Squash
In my sub-tropical garden, the Seminole pumpkin replaces squash. I love orange vegetables and need them to help my old eyes. The Seminole pumpkin tastes a lot like a butternut squash.
Alas, I had only one to eat this year. That doesn’t mean I will give up. The vines are long, and they trail all over the yard but I don’t get many squash. I will definitely try for more of these this summer.
Loofah or Luffa
Loofah is a crop that is grown in summer here, I think. I planted seeds in summer and they did nothing. So, I took a chance and planted some seeds this Fall. One plant grew and I have one loofah on it. Supposedly, you can eat the young gourds as a replacement for zucchini. It doesn’t sound appealing.
The bees love the big, yellow flowers and it would be fun to have some dried loofah to use. See how to use homegrown loofah in this video. With any luck, I will have seeds from this one. I need a good trellis if I plant more.
Healthy Beets, Even If I Only Get Greens
Beets grow very slowly but are worth the effort. They never get very big in my garden, or maybe I am too impatient. I love that I can use the greens as well as the root, so I will keep growing these. They are perfect for planting in a shallow grow box.
Looking Forward to Spring Planting
January has been a pretty cool, gloomy and windy month. We went camping for a few days in the beginning of the month and after that the weather went downhill.
We haven’t had any freezing temps yet, but it’s been dry. While the rest of the country is getting deep freezing temperatures and ice and snow, we are safe with temps in the 40’s for lows here. So far.
As most gardeners do, I am looking into the future and planning my Spring and summer planting. I have two Vegega metal raised beds to assemble. Then they need to be filled. I’ll have to get this done soon so I can plant seeds and seedlings. There is a lot of clean up and planting planning to do.
Meanwhile the seeds I started a few months ago are growing – mostly. I’ll have a few things to put into the beds. First I need to harvest that broccoli.
Thank you for sharing!
Hydrangeas Blue 