WInter and Summer Vegetables….Oh My!
I just love spring….and not just because everything is turning green and beginning to bloom in my garden.
I love this time of year because I have both winter and summer vegetables growing in my garden. I have harvested some of my winter vegetables already including my broccoli and lettuce. But, my spinach, garlic and carrots are still going strong.
I love how the leafy greens of my carrots look like ferns…
Winter and Summer Vegetables
My dog likes them too…
I must confess that my spinach has grown huge. I had been really good about picking it when the leaves were small and using them in salads, but life kind of got away from me and so did the spinach leaves 😉
I cannot wait to pick my garlic in May. It takes a long time to grow, (I planted it in September), but it will totally be worth it. I just need to wait for the green tops to start turning brown and then I can harvest them.
In early March, I planted my spring and summer vegetables. I went for less variety this year and concentrated on what we love to eat the most.
My San Marzano tomatoes are growing quickly and is flowering. I cannot wait to use the tomatoes for cooking.
My young cucumber plants are enjoying the protection that their friend, ‘Marigold’ provides.
I just love fresh corn, straight from the garden. In our area, we are fortunate to be able to not only plant a corn crop in the spring, but we can also plant corn in late summer for a fall harvest.
This year, I have planted 3 separate areas of corn and each area was planted 2 weeks apart from each other. That way, not all of my corn will be ready at once and I can extend my corn harvest.
Young corn seedlings.
While not a vegetable, Sunflowers are always present in my vegetable garden. I cannot wait for them to bloom…
I love to venture out into my vegetable garden to see how rapidly everything is growing.
The weather has been so nice and my garden has really responded.
Our spring weather has been rather crazy going from extremes. Last week we broke a record when we hit 100 degrees in Phoenix, which was 20 degrees above normal.
Tomorrow, we are expecting a storm that will bring temperatures down to 22 degrees below normal for this time of year.
So far, my garden doesn’t seem to be affected by the extremes.
So, how about you? How is your garden growing?
Have you experienced any crazy, spring weather?
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Please check out my latest Birds & Blooms blog
Noelle Johnson, aka, 'AZ Plant Lady' is a author, horticulturist, and landscape consultant who helps people learn how to create, grow, and maintain beautiful desert gardens that thrive in a hot, dry climate. She does this through her consulting services, her online class Desert Gardening 101, and her monthly membership club, Through the Garden Gate. As she likes to tell desert-dwellers, "Gardening in the desert isn't hard, but it is different."
Talk about being a tease! I bet you enjoy having your garden well underway when the rest of us are just beginning!
I am loving the fast growth of my garden, too! It's no where near as lush as yours is looking though! I am so envious! I didn't know you could do winter crops, too! (I'm new to this AZ gardening)
I have anaheim peppers popping out everywhere, and my tomatoes are budding! I'm so excited to make salsa!
Noelle, LOL, isn't "crazy spring weather" redundant? In southern PA, we've been having mostly cool weather (10-15 degrees below average) with an occasional day that is 10-15 degrees above average.) Average high for this time of year is 60; today it was in the mid-forties and raining, and they're predicting low 80s for Monday. So they garden sits in a state of suspended animation until we get a warm day and then things spring into bloom. My daffodils all have big fat buds just waiting for a warm sunny day. -Jean
my garden is actually doing well. I see flowers on my tomato plants and on the cantaloupe. thanks for the heads up on garlic I had NO idea what I was supposed to do. I LOVE garlic and was SO excited to plant some. we cheated this year and just bought everything already started, we did buy seeds so we can start are own for the next time. I'm excited to see what our corn does! THANKS so much for inspiring me–just SO exciting to grow and use our own food! 🙂 BTW my plants are LOVING the rain!
we have spring/summer throughout the year, therefore everyday is worth waiting for. We even get tired of it. .. haha.
I'm with you on the San Marzano tomatoes.I can only get them canned, but what a difference in flavor. I have to travel a distance to get them.
Your garden looks wonderful. Everything looks so fresh and perfect. Have a nice weekend…Balisha
Thank you for sharing your lovely garden. This is my favorite time in te garden !
Hi Noelle – if you get the chance, could you elaborate on how you set up your drip lines in the garden? I started a veggie garden last year but am having problems finding the best way to water (layout, types of drip "heads", keeping out the critters, etc.) Thanks – I hope my garden ends up looking 1/2 as great as yours.
Nadya
I just came across your blog and your photos are beautiful! Thanks for sharing your vegetables, you grow many of the same things I do, esp. the San Marzano tomatoes. Things are just beginning in the Boise area but I am inspired after seeing your photos!
Thanks,
My blog is igardendaily.com