Or what have you planted already? This is my second year vegetable gardening. Last year, we'd just moved into this house, so I actually didn't have time to get anything into the ground until the end of May anyway. Grew your typical summer vegetables...cucumbers, tomatoes, green beans. This time around, I'm starting earlier and want to do some "cool weather crops". I'm just trying to learn what the timing is. We're in the process of building raised planting beds and I just got my delivery of gorgeous soil yesterday. So I spent today filling some of the beds with soil. I want to plant peas, potatoes, lettuce, carrots, spinach...I may be forgetting something. But anyway, sound like good stuff to plant now? What are you all planting?
I have my tomato seedlings started inside too. :)
What are you planting this week?
Jen, I lke Swiss Chard cooked or in salad and it doesn't bolt like most greens. It can keep going all season.
Dave
This week I've planted beets, Gourmet Mixed by Botanical Interestsm which are different colored Chioggia beets. I already have peas, turnips, radishes, baby bok choy and arugula up.
I plan to put in some "Bright Lights" swiss chard (also Botanical Interests) this weekend.
Inside I have tomatoes, cauliflower, hollyhock, italian parsley, bells of ireland started under lights.
This weekend I'm starting more seeds inside.
Thanks for starting this thread. It'll be fun to see what everyone else is planting.
Dave & Daisygrrl,
what does swiss chard taste like? I don't think I've ever eaten it. Looks spinachy to me. I keep seeing it whenever I look at seeds. I guess I'll get some and give it a try. As my husband says...packet of seeds, best deal around. :)
Anyone else want to share? I really want to know what your cool weather crops are!
Thanks.
like spinach cooked but I think Swiss chard has better texture & flavor. Raw is good too, some people like to limit it to small leaves for salad. But everyone's tastes are different. Give it a try.
as a former southern grrrl, i can attest to the yumminess of all greens like swiss chard, kale, collards, etc.
Of course, they're even better when cooked up w/ some ham bone and sprinkled w/ vinegar, but that's the old fashioned way.
The new chic way is to braise in olive oil for a little bit, a little balsamic vinegar and if you like, a little pepper flakes!
I love to plant cool weather stuff like swiss chard because they live through ANYTHING!
I'm hoping to get cauliflower and cabbage seedlings transplanted soon. Might already be a bit late, though.
Okay, so do you eat the stem of the swiss chard too? Looks pretty in all the different colors you can get.
McCool, how early would you normally plant cauliflower and cabbage?
What about broccoli? I know that doesn't like heat. How early does one start that? I don't plan to grow it this year, but maybe next year. I love to eat it, but the broccoli I planted last year from plants I got at the nursery and, a) I didn't like the taste and b) the heads never got very big. I know now that I planted them too late in the season. I don't know what variety it was from the nursery because it just said "broccoli". That annoys me. Why don't they label the variety on there too so I know what I'm getting. That's yet another reason why I'm trying to use seeds as much as possible this time around. I want to know what I like and what I don't like. Anyone have a favorite variety of broccoli to recommend?
I found it hard to get big heads on broccoli too. I gave up and went to broccoli rabe.
You can eat swiss chard stems if cookeked or very young.
May 15 is the date here for everything that's not cold hardy to go in. Might be a couple days later in Danbury.
Hard to answer your question exactly, but I know that the best results I've had with broccoli were when I direct seeded it about as soon as the ground could be worked. I never got really big heads, but if you cut the main one and leave the plant in the ground, it usually produces smaller side heads too.
Last year I put cauliflower seedlings into the garden, but the weather turned too warm too fast and they never headed up until just about frost (only two of them and they never got the chance to get to a reasonable size). Big waste of work and space. I'm hoping this year will be better, but we'll see.
I'm afraid that I'm a haphazard kind of gardener. I figure I'm lucky to get anything into the ground at all with the kind of schedule I have, so the finer points, like varieties of plants tend to get lost by the wayside. I'm just happy if I get to harvest something and the rotten cucumber beetles don't kill off all my cukes and squashes (have given up on melons!)
I tried Swiss Chard 'Bright Lights' last season because I realized too late that I was out of Pac Choi seed and couldn't find it in time. It was OK but I prefer the Pac Choi, the seedlings are up and ready to plant this week as well as Broccoli 'Green Goliath' and Kohlrabi. All cold weather crops.
Yesterday I planted my Onion 'Copra' seedlings, 140 of them.
I plant the Kohlrabi in between the Broccoli. They are smaller and earlier, harvesting them opens up more space for the Broccoli. (2 crops in 1 bed.)
If you have never tried Kohlrabi, you should. It's often my first veggie and it can be used in many ways. Raw sliced Julienne in salads, in stir fries, soups and stews or simply steamed with a pat of butter on top. Yummy.
In the flower department, I've planted 3 Clematis 'Polish Spirit' that I started from cuttings last year, along a new fence.
26 Strawberry 'Tristar' plants went in 2 weeks ago.
I also planted up an old pair of sneakers with Hens & Chicks yesterday.
Andy P
Andy, Does Pac Choi last into the season the way swiss chard does?
I'll check it out either way.
Dave, Pac choi tends to bolt in the heat. I still use the smaller leaves and stalks though.
They are very easy and fast, I sometimes plant the seed in place of one I just pulled up.
They are nice in stead of celery, less flavor but lots of crunch.
Andy P