Winter Vegetable Garden Progress

If you're still needing some inspiration to plant a winter vegetable garden, today's your day. I'm so excited by the progress I'm seeing in the seeds I started and seedlings I transplanted that I took some pictures this morning.

Back on September 17, I sowed two kinds of lettuce seeds in 6-packs and had some interesting germination issues. On October 10th I transplanted the lettuce into planting tubs and thoroughly thinned the seedlings. I have done a little more thinning since then, but I need to do some more.  Here's what they look like today.

The lettuce on the left is the heirloom "heading" type lettuce. When I sat down to transplant these, I also (quite mistakenly) added more seed to the planter. Oy! I really-really need to thin a lot of these seedlings so the remaining ones can get more nutrients and really get going. While the goal with heading-type lettuce is the formation of the head to harvest, that doesn't keep us from harvesting and dining on the seedlings that we thin out.

The lettuce on the right is the heirloom loose-leaf lettuce. I did not go insane and plant more seeds. I actually thinned the existing seedlings even more. As you can see, they are quite happy. Like the head lettuce, we can harvest and dine on the seedlings we thin out. But, unlike the heading lettuce, we can start harvesting the outer leaves of the loose leaf lettuce as we go. I'll be having home-grown salads very soon, between the quickly growing loose-leaf lettuce and the over abundance of heading seedlings.

Back on October 12, I directed-seeded some Jewel-Toned Beets (Red, Gold & Candystripe). They don't look all that exciting right now, but the tub was rife with weeds that I pulled the other day. Still, they're growing pretty well.

These beets are supposed to be grown for their roots, unlike the beets I've been growing all summer primarily for the greens. (Those roots are OK, but nothing to write home about.) Still, I may end up harvesting some greens from these beets as they get bigger and more lush, but not too much 'cause I don't want to rob the roots of their nutrient source.

Also on October 12, I planted one pot each of two different kinds of spinach. One of the two is merely doing OK. This one is doing quite nicely.

Like the beets and lettuce, this pot was chock-full of weeds that I pulled the other day. Despite the weeds, they seem to be putting on a burst of growth, especially since I pulled the weeds.

On October 11, I direct-seeded both Super Sugar-Snap Peas and Bok Choi in a recycled recycle bin. The bok choi veritably leapt from the soil while the peas took their sweet time to get around to sprouting. I have thinned the bok choi two or three times and have thinned the peas once.

As you may have already guessed, the bok choi needs to be thinned yet again. Maybe a couple more times. I've never tried it, but I suspect that I can use the thinnings in salad or in a stir-fry or in soup or any number of other things. Anyone with suggestions is free to share!

Also on October 12, I transplanted a couple of cabbage seedlings. The cabbage has not been suffering from weeds, but it has been suffering from aphids. I've gone out a few times with a spray bottle of soapy water and a hose to try to kill/control the little buggers, but they keep coming back. The plants are growing great guns, but the aphids are a problem.

As you can see, some of the outer leaves are becoming peppered with holes. But this damage shouldn't hold the plant back much at all. I just need to stay on top of the problem and hope the aphid season passes soon.

So, those of you in Silicon Valley and other places that still have a little bit of a growing season left, now is the time to start planting those winter veggies!