Here we are in a new year! I am hoping this year will be as fun and successful as the previous one was.
So on this mild January morning, I am thinking about planting some vegetables in my raised beds. My tomatoes bit it last month in a very cold snap. I harvested all the little tomatoes before the freeze and ate them (with delight) as they ripened. I have some greens still going, but not very strongly. What to plant, what to plant…
Have you seen this resource? Published by the Pima County Ag Extension office, it is a wonderful guide for what to plant when. After finding the elevation zone that Tucson is in, I have reviewed my options.
http://cals.arizona.edu/pubs/garden/az1435.pdf
I am going to plant carrots, spinach and cauliflower. I’m going to do tomatoes again this year, but not for a few months. I bought a “Sweet Baby Girl” variety last year and was very impressed with it. It went dormant in the summer, but pruned it back some and had a second crop in the fall. Yum! And did you know that cauliflower is an excellent source of many nutrients, including omega-3? Having revised what I’m eating last year, I have discovered that I love cauliflower and red, orange and yellow peppers a LOT!!! I’m sure I’ll like the cauliflower even more if I am able to grow it myself.
Raising vegetables doesn’t mean you have to turn over your yard and all your free time and become a farmer. Large pots with herbs or lettuces or spinach take up little space and time. And there is a great satisfaction to bringing in something from your yard to consume. Give it a try!
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January 4, 2012 at 6:03 pm
Erin
Just put in my winter garden last week too along with some good stuff from my compost bin. I put in broccoli, spinach and cauliflower and planted some radish, lettuce, arugula and cilantro seeds. I love winter gardens! I planted yellow “cheese” cauliflower last year and it was the best I’ve ever had, so I’m trying that again with some red cauliflower.