Start thinking about spring vegetables

A lovely pleasure of January gardening is the arrival of seed catalogs. Checking out the vegetable seed sections is the best. Whether you peruse catalogs online or with a paper copy, it is a good time to hunker down and plan the spring vegetable garden. And, even if you prefer to buy starts instead of seeds, most of the following vegetables are grown by local growers. They are readily available at the nursery come planting time.

People often ask me about what I grow at my home vegetable garden — greens and beans, carrots and zucchinis. These veggies grow well on the coast. Here are a few of my favorites:

Broccoli: If you have not tried growing broccoli raab, now is a good time to give it a go. Instead of one large head, broccoli raab produces numerous small stalks of broccoli heads. The stalks, leaves and buds are all good for eating. Another broccoli treat is the purple sprouting type. This one takes a bit longer for harvest, over 100 days. It is best planted in the late summer for late winter/early spring harvest. The cold days of winter sweeten the buds and stems.

Bush beans: By midspring, usually in May, I plant ‘Provider’ bush beans. Sturdy plants produce handfuls of meaty, tender green beans. Tolerant of cool, coastal soils, this one grows quickly if placed under row cover early on. Bush French filet beans are a winner for early/midsummer planting. Sweet and tendercrisp, these bean pods grow quite long and thin. It’s best to harvest when pods are 6 to 8 inches long, before the seeds begin to form.

Carrots: The Nantes type carrot is a top choice for home gardening carrot growing. The Nantes type of carrot is an heirloom variety from France. Carrots are a bit tricky as they take forever, it seems, to germinate. Be patient. Also, try growing carrots on seed tape or in pellets. This way the carrots are easy to space. The pellet coating on the seed is a clay-like material. ‘Bolero’ is a favorite Nantes type carrot that is available in pellets. You will not find carrots as transplants because the long taproots will not allow it.

Corn: If you have the space, try growing ‘Sugar Buns’ corn. Transplants set out in May will produce sweet, tender ears of corn in August, on the coast. This is a short season, short-growing corn, averaging about 5 feet tall. Ears average about 8 inches long.

Zucchini: On a cold, dark day in January, what would we give for a fresh, tender zucchini fresh from the garden? ‘Raven’ zucchini is a winner in my summer garden. Tasty fruits and easy harvest make it so. The 3-foot wide bushes produce wellspaced leaves that allow for visibility into the center of the plant. Not one zucchini can hide and turn into a monster. Harvest is clean and easy. No searching for fruit amongst scratchy leaves.