So you’ve finally eaten the last of the summer squash and
tomatoes, and you’re ready to put your summer vegetable garden to
bed, are you?
So you’ve finally eaten the last of the summer squash and tomatoes, and you’re ready to put your summer vegetable garden to bed, are you? Well, why not take advantage of our mild winter weather and grow winter vegetables? Such things as broccoli, spinach, celery, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower and lettuce can be grown throughout winter without danger of frost damage. You can be picking fresh salad out of your own garden come the new year!
All seeds can be sown directly into the soil and our still-warm fall weather should help the newly-sprouted plants off to a good start. Both seeds and already-started seedlings ready for transplant are available at local nurseries. Be aware, though, that since most of these winter veggies are very quick sprouting, it’s usually just as easier (and cheaper) to start them by seed.
As mentioned, among the cabbage family you’ll find available are broccoli, Brussels sprouts and cauliflower. All are cool-season crops grown for their head-like clusters. All are also grown similarly. For example, cabbage family vegetables prefer a firm soil. In sandy soils, heads often will not form properly. A liberal amount of organic compost or the additional of steer or chicken manure also helps.
Insects love the cabbage family because they can hide in their heads. You can prevent damage, though, by placing paper or metal collars around individual plants. Vegetable dust and also products that contain Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) will also keep caterpillars and cabbage worms under control.
Broccoli should be harvested as soon as it forms a head or the bud clusters will open to produce flowers. Stems should be cut five to six inches below the base of the head. The same harvest method should be used for cauliflower. Brussels sprouts require a longer growing season, usually around 90 days. Cabbage heads should be picked when they become soil. Timeline is about 75 days after transplanting seedlings.
Of course, just as no summer vegetable garden is complete without tomatoes, no winter vegetable garden is complete without lettuce. The majority of lettuce in the entire U.S. is grown just down Highway 101 from us in the Salinas Valley. Among the easiest lettuce to grow at home is leaf lettuce. Its great benefit is its ability to regenerate fresh, new leaves from the center without picking the entire head. If you pick just the outer leaves, your crop may last all season.
Butterhead is also easy to grow. It doesn’t form a completely solid head, but folds its leaves tightly in the middle, forming a soft head like a pillow. Head lettuce, sometimes called Iceberg, is the most challenging to grow. They cannot be crowded or hurried along like the others. Another type of head lettuce is Cos or Romaine. Both are known for their upright growth habit, which keeps leaves clean of mud and dirt.
Celery and spinach are still other vegetables to grow in winter. If all this isn’t enough, carrots, radishes and snow peas can be grown, too. You’ll be surprised at how many vegetables can be grown in our mild winter climate.
