When to Grow
Cool weather harvest basket filled with snap peas, chard, kale, celery, marigolds, early basil, and spinach.
Dear Gardeners,
Now that you have a list of the foods that you most use in the kitchen, let’s work on figuring out timing in the garden. (If you’ve just stumbled upon this blog, check out the last post for your first assignment.)
Take anything you’ve read about the USDA Hardiness Zones and forget about it during our chats. For vegetable gardeners, what really matters are your first and last frost dates, along with the average temperatures each month. It’s really a regional game. For those of you not in New York or similar climates, I apologize but what I share here may lead you astray without modification. Check out the Gardenary directory for a kitchen garden designer and coach in your area. They’re a brilliant group.
When it comes to growing your own veg and herbs, timing is one of your biggest considerations. Lettuce and cilantro are happy greens in cooler temps but will quickly go to seed and lose their sweet charm once it gets toasty. Sad, I know, but also an opportunity to open up the garden space for something new. Cilantro seeds, aka coriander, are also a mainstay in my spice pantry so I invite this circle of life. (Ooh, oooh- check out this IG post where we smoked a small harvest of them.)
This week, I recommend going through your list of favorite and most used produce and labeling each with a season and length of time in the garden, using the downloads in the link below. In New York City, we get two cool and one warm seasons for growing. It doesn’t quite get hot enough to grow some tropical delights outside. You’ll need to continue to source your citrus, avocado, bananas, etc from outside your kitchen garden.
Note that I’ve designated the plants that require at least 6 hours of direct sunlight. Many gardening rules are meant to be broken but not this one. Think about your terrace throughout the day- and be honest with yourself- if the sun-worshipers won’t get what they need, it’s best to cross them off the list.
If you have anything on your list that I haven’t included, leave a comment below and we’ll get it sorted, literally.
Next week, we’ll start to sketch out our garden plans for the year.
Growing together,
Kiera
