Start seeds for fall, winter favorites for transplanting after Labor Day
Chard and other cool-season favorites can be started from seed now for transplanting after Labor Day. Debbie Arrington
What can a gardener do during the hottest days of summer? Think about fall – and plant cool-season vegetables.
These autumn-loving greens and winter favorites may not go into the ground when it’s triple-digits outside, but they’re very comfortable starting life on your kitchen counter or in a sunny window.
The Dog Days of Summer – July 3 through Aug. 11 this year – correspond with Sacramento’s historically warmest weeks. “Dog Days” get their nickname from the ancient Greeks; this period marks when Sirius, the “Dog Star,” rises in the skies above the Northern Hemisphere. They knew when they saw that very bright star, it was going to get hot.
As we retreat indoors to air conditioning, it’s an opportunity to look over our seed inventory and start a new crop of little lettuces, broccoli, cabbages or peas.
Here’s advice from the UCCE master gardeners of Placer County, as shared by their master gardener neighbors in El Dorado County:
“Although it seems counter-intuitive, the Dog Days – particularly the latter part, i.e. now – is a good time to start seeds of broccoli, cauliflower, cabbages, and Brussels sprouts for the fall garden. You can plant the seeds in pots or flats, or they can be sown in a sheltered place in the garden.
“With the warm soil temperatures, the seeds sprout quickly,” add the master gardeners. “Keep them watered and you'll have young plants to transplant after Labor Day. This is a HUGE savings as the cost of transplants at nurseries has sky rocketed in recent years. Plus, your plants are likely to be more vigorous and healthier than those raised for mass production, with a greater choice in varieties.”
Due to increased interest in home vegetable gardening, seed for some popular varieties has been selling out. Order early.
“In addition (to planting), it's a good time to look over seed packets and purchase cool season veggie seeds if needed so you can be prepared,” say the master gardeners. “And ordering seed packets is a good ‘garden activity’ to do on a hot summer day.”
What are some cool-season crops that can be started now? All the brassicas (broccoli, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, kale, collards, etc.), greens (chard, spinach, leaf lettuce, head lettuce, etc.), root vegetables (radishes, turnips, carrots, beets, rutabagas, onions, etc.), and peas.
“Don't forget to order a few cool season flowers as well!” say the master gardeners. “These include sweet peas, violas, stock, cornflowers, and others, along with native California wildflowers like California poppies. Native wildflowers grow quite happily amongst the kale and radishes in a cool-season veggie garden!”
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Food in My Back Yard Series
May 13: Your plants can tell you more than any calendar can
May 6: Maintain soil moisture with mulch for garden success
April 29: What's (already) wrong with my tomato plants?
April 22: Should you stock up on fertilizer? (Yes!)
April 15: Grow culinary herbs in containers
April 8: When to plant summer vegetables
April 1: Don't be fooled by these garden myths
March 25: Fertilizer tips: How to 'feed' your vegetables for healthy growth
March 18: Time to give vegetable seedlings some more space
March 11: Ways to win the fight against weeds
March 4: Potatoes from the garden
Feb. 25: Plant a fruit tree now -- for later
Feb. 18: How to squeeze more food into less space
Feb. 11: When to plant? Consider staggering your transplants
Feb. 4: Starting in seed starting
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Garden Checklist for week of May 11
Make the most of the lower temperatures early in the week. We’ll be back in the 80s by Thursday.
* Plant, plant, plant! It’s prime planting season in the Sacramento area. Time to set out those tomato transplants along with peppers and eggplants. Pinch off any flowers on new transplants to make them concentrate on establishing roots instead of setting premature fruit.
* Direct-seed melons, cucumbers, summer squash, corn, radishes, pumpkins and annual herbs such as basil.
* Harvest cabbage, lettuce, peas and green onions.
* In the flower garden, direct-seed sunflowers, cosmos, salvia, zinnias, marigolds, celosia and asters. (You also can transplant seedlings for many of the same flowers.)
* Plant dahlia tubers.
* Transplant petunias, marigolds and perennial flowers such as astilbe, columbine, coneflowers, coreopsis, dahlias, rudbeckia and verbena.
* Keep an eye out for slugs, snails, earwigs and aphids that want to dine on tender new growth.
* Feed summer bloomers with a balanced fertilizer.
* For continued bloom, cut off spent flowers on roses as well as other flowering plants.
* Add mulch to the garden to maintain moisture. Mulch also cuts down on weeds. But don’t let it mound around the stems or trunks of trees or shrubs. Leave about a 6-inch-to-1-foot circle to avoid crown rot or other problems.
* Remember to weed! Pull those nasties before they set seed.
* Water early in the day and keep seedlings evenly moist.