San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Get your gardens going ... now
These cold months are the Bay Area’s secret planting season
Want all the pleasures of harvesting garden vegetables but worried about conserving water? Make January-March (the “secret season”) an important part of your gardening year. By starting now, you can take advantage of late-winter and spring rains. Just a little planning in January and February can bring you delicious harvests from March through June, usually with very little supplemental watering. Many vegetables are hardy enough for January or February planting, and a few benefit from starting indoors.
In some cases, planting at this time year will require special varieties: Choose “early” cabbage, broccoli or cauliflower varieties, small-rooted radishes, and varieties of radicchio, Florence fennel or celeriac described as OK for spring planting.
Pam Peirce is the author of “Golden Gate Gardening.” Visit her website, www.pampeirce.com Email: food@sfchronicle.com
What to plant in the garden
Note: In the following lists, the asterisk (*) means the crop is best suited to a larger garden (usually because most gardeners don’t consider the rewards from only a few plants worth the trouble).
Direct sow these seeds in January:
Arugula
Cilantro
Collards
Leek
Kale
Mustard
Parsley
Radish
In February: All of the above, plus:
Beet
Carrot
Fava bean
Lettuce
Pea
Potato (use seed potatoes from a nursery, small potatoes intended for planting) *Artichoke, 8-12 weeks; potting up optional Broccoli, 5-7 weeks; pot up Cabbage, 5-7 weeks; pot up Cauliflower, 5-7 weeks; pot up *Celeriac, 10-12 weeks; pot up Collards, 5-7 weeks; pot up *Florence fennel, 4-6 weeks; do not pot up Gai lan, 5-7 weeks; pot up
Kale, 5-7 weeks; pot up *Kohlrabi, 5-7 weeks; pot up
Leek, 10-12 weeks; potting up optional Lettuce, 3-6 weeks; potting up optional Onion, 8-10 weeks; potting up optional Swiss chard, 4-6 weeks; pot up Radicchio, 4-5 weeks; potting up optional