Sukkos is behind us and that means it’s time to get serious about winter vegetable planting.
I just ordered a bunch of seeds from my favorite seed store. Now I’m mapping out my growing beds.
Here are some considerations in my planning:
- two of my beds get very little sun in the winter. Really most of the growth will take place at the start and end of the winter, when there is more sun. This seems to work OK for garlic. I’m not sure about other vegetables.
- legume plants, such as peas, need to be grown at a distance from other vegetables (according to halacha). In practical terms, each legume needs it’s own bed
- some of my summer vegetables, such as the peanuts, tomatoes, eggplants and ground cherries, are still growing strong, meaning that I won’t have those beds for winter plantings until December. That is too late to plant from seed. So I will save those beds for the vegetables that can be transplanted as seedlings. Generally root vegetables hate being transplanted.
This is the list of vegetables I’m planning to grow this winter:
- garlic (lots! – this is my favorite winter vegetable to grow)
- onions
- carrots – 3 colors
- fennel
- peas
- chickpeas (to eat them green!)
- potatoes
- kohlrabi
- snow peas (another favorite)
What are you planning to grow this winter?