Coming in late, but just got my first seed order of the year from Baker Creek's catalog, so getting ready to set up my grow light in the next week or so. Anyone have any other online seed catalogs they like, that specialize in heirloom/non GMO seeds?
I eat a lot of greens, so I aim to have multiple types of greens going - turnip, arugula, mizuna and bok choy in spring; turnip, chard and spinach in summer; collards and kale in fall and winter. Otherwise I like growing carrots and snap peas, because they're so mindlessly easy to grow. We're still eating carrots from last spring's planting!
Kale grows readily in moderate climates. I prefer lacinato kale. Just seed it in place, thin out crowded sprouts, and voila. It's usually treated as an annual but I've let mine keep going for almost 2 years before (it can get to about 3-4' tall) because it's the one green that consistently keeps producing down to freezing temperatures. Nowadays I pull them at the very end of winter, as I don't want such massive kale plants, and replant new ones in spring.
You can start them but if you're transplanting them outside you need to be mindful of your frost dates. I need to start tomatoes, peppers and eggplant in Jan/Feb to have them ready to go when spring is here. Almost everything else I seed directly in the garden.
For peas... if your ground isn't frozen solid you can seed peas in the ground early. Last year I seeded them in Jan maybe, and then we had 2' of snow dumped on them, but about half the seeds still sprouted. I plan on seeding my peas later this month.
I don't plant lettuce until the tomatoes are ready to go out, as I primarily eat lettuce in summer, so that's still months away.
I eat a lot of greens, so I aim to have multiple types of greens going - turnip, arugula, mizuna and bok choy in spring; turnip, chard and spinach in summer; collards and kale in fall and winter. Otherwise I like growing carrots and snap peas, because they're so mindlessly easy to grow. We're still eating carrots from last spring's planting!
Kale grows readily in moderate climates. I prefer lacinato kale. Just seed it in place, thin out crowded sprouts, and voila. It's usually treated as an annual but I've let mine keep going for almost 2 years before (it can get to about 3-4' tall) because it's the one green that consistently keeps producing down to freezing temperatures. Nowadays I pull them at the very end of winter, as I don't want such massive kale plants, and replant new ones in spring.
You can start them but if you're transplanting them outside you need to be mindful of your frost dates. I need to start tomatoes, peppers and eggplant in Jan/Feb to have them ready to go when spring is here. Almost everything else I seed directly in the garden.
For peas... if your ground isn't frozen solid you can seed peas in the ground early. Last year I seeded them in Jan maybe, and then we had 2' of snow dumped on them, but about half the seeds still sprouted. I plan on seeding my peas later this month.
I don't plant lettuce until the tomatoes are ready to go out, as I primarily eat lettuce in summer, so that's still months away.
