Planting a winter garden

 

All it took was a few days of sunshine and mild temperatures, and I was down at the neighborhood Ace nursery buying up baby vegetables. We're so lucky in northern California - many vegetables grow through the winter, including this year a crazy cherry tomato that's still going strong in late January (this has never happened in my garden before!).

 

 

If you look closely you will see yellow flowers even, signalling yet more tomatoes to come. Amazing! Well, that's unusual.

 

The vegetables that usually grow well in our climate in winter are of the cabbage family -cabbages, cauliflower, broccoli - as well as beets and lettuces, and other leafy things like kale and chard. All are yummy!

 

I bought beets and arugula for the back yard, which doesn't get much winter sun but is also protected from the most "extreme" cold by the house.

 

Just a comment about "extreme" cold: I'm originally from Minnesota and we don't have anything here in coastal California that even approaches Extreme Cold, so you're probably laughing if you happen to be in a climate where REAL cold happens. Believe me, I haven't forgotten.

 

Here are the sweet new little beets and arugula:

 

 














And Nero (a.k.a. Pookie-Boo) guarding an already maturing cabbage:

 

 For the front yard, where the best sun is, I got rainbow chard, cauliflowers, and broccolini, which I planted in pots...easier to water if we don't get rain, and easier to defend from hungry spring snails.

 

Baby rainbow chard

Broccolini all gathered in a pot

Snowball cauliflower YUM!

Aren't they sweet? And, mmm, are they ever going to be good to eat! I think that rhymes. Sort of.

 

The temperature has dipped back into the low 50s today, and the sky is overcast with drops of rain spitting here and there, so it looks like our few days of warmth are over for now. Every time I look at my new little vegetables, though, bravely standing up in their pretty pots, I know Spring is coming. Yay!!