A few years ago we found out that there were so many things we were trying to grow that needed to be planted earlier or later in the season, that dont need a ton of sun or that love the sun and hate shade and countless other things. For years we just went to a big chain store and bought stuff and planted. This does work for lots of things. Last year we read that you could plant potatoes as early as March 22 and we had the most luck ever with our potatoes. If you have a second planting around July 12 you should harvest potatoes mid September into October. The only thing hard about doing a later crop is that no stores have the seed potatoes. That doesnt have to stop you. You can go to your local store and just buy organic potatoes especially stores that let you pick the potatoes you want. If there are some that have tiny little eyes that are wanting to sprout grab those. You will need to purchase the potatoes 3-4 weeks prior to when you want to put them in the ground. Mr Ladybug and I just purchased our spring crop last Saturday and we have them out and ready to start sprouting now. We purchase Yukon Gold, a red potato and decided to try a Russet potato this year. We paid $1.29lb for them and got about 7 pounds. No seed carrying stores have potatoes out yet but they should.
Tomorrow we are starting out cabbage, cauliflower and peas inside. The peas are not good and being transplanted but I am going to plant them in toilet paper rolls so I can just pop the whole thing in the ground without disturbing the very picky rooting system. Peas and spinach can be planted outside March 8th. Peas are great to grow and they do not require a deep soil. If you get them in the ground in March you should start picking peas in May. The plants will do well until it starts getting warm outside in July. I am going to experiment with trying to grow peas in a more shaded area in the heat of the summer and see if I can get it to work. We really enjoy those peas. Most do not even make it to the house before we eat them. The last planting for peas is at the end of July but you really need to protect them from the sun. This will give you peas mid September - October.
Cabbage is something that we are still learning to grow. Last year we battled that wonderful cabbage worm. You know those cute little yellow, white or grey butterfly or moths that you see in the summer? They love to lay eggs on your cabbage and their little worm babies will eat your plants right up! We are going to protect ours with mesh this year. Your cabbage can be planted March 15th outside. Thats a plant not a seed. They too should be ready to harvest in May. They like the peas dont do super well in the heat and since there are so many plants that want to be planted and harvested early you can plant them and harvest then plant your pepper or tomato plants in their place for the hotter weather. You should start your fall cabbage indoors around Mid June, protect them from the hot sun when you plant them outside in July and get a fall harvest late August-September. Mr Ladybug has that late cabbage marked for homemade sauerkraut. Cabbage can be grown in containers as well. We are trying three varieties this year, One is a smaller head that is suppose to withstand some heat. It will be interesting to see.
Caulifower is very much the same as the cabbage. planting is the same time but it takes longer to grow. We do not grow a lot of this we just like to grow things and try a few plants for fun.
I hope you have found this helpful and I would love to hear your garden stories. I bet you are glad to see a post that I am not ranting over car accidents. I almost forgot to talk about the above picture. Mr Ladybugs onions are doing awesome! Those will be going in the ground outside February 8th. The bottom of the picture is our third round of sprouts. We love them on tacos and in salads. The larger rectangular container has lettuce in it. The grassy looking stuff is wheat grass and we just cut it and eat and let it regrow. It can grow an inch a day.
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