Time to Plant Cool-Season Veggies

Ah, spring in the Northwest! Snow one weekend, temperatures in the 70’s the next, and back to the low 40’s for the following weekend. What’s a gardener to do? Go plant your cool season veggies, that’s what! Despite the wildly fluctuating temperatures, there are several things that thrive in our cool, wet spring weather. Greens such as lettuce and arugula, peas, radishes and carrots are a few things that will grow best for you right now. In fact, some of these will really not perform very well at all once it gets warm – so put on your rain coat and boots, and get out in the garden!

Even just planting a pot of lettuce or other greens will produce many salads. I always go overboard on lettuce. Right now I have a half-wine barrel and a 2’x 2’ plot in my garden with lettuce in it. I know that will be more than I need when it really starts growing, but at this point I am hungry for some good lettuce that doesn’t cost $2.49 a head. And so what if there's too much? We eat as much as we can, give some away, and when it starts to bolt in the summer, it can go to the chickens and/or the compost pile. My favorite is to use a mixture of lettuces or greens. Most seed companies sell packages of mixtures. Try a few and see what you like best. Another favorite green of mine is arugula. It needs to be planted early and often, because it grows (and bolts) quite quickly.

Radishes are best sown now, too. Like arugula, they grow very quickly, but also like arugula, they tend to get hot and then bolt much sooner than you would expect. I often see recommendations that you plant radishes every two weeks if you want to have a prolonged crop of them, but I usually just plant a row early, and then move on to other veggies as the summer gets going. They really do not do well once it gets warm, as their flavor gets too hot for my taste.

Peas are another cool season vegetable that should be planted now. Many varieties will develop a disease called pea enation if they are planted too late, which ruins the pods. So now is the perfect time to grow peas. My family loves both shelling peas (the kind you take the peas out of the pod) and sugar snap peas. Most of the time the shelling peas do not actually make it into the house, we just stand in the garden and eat them. The sugar snap peas have edible pods, so you get more vegetable for your effort, and those do make it in the house to be eaten raw in salads or lightly stir-fried. There are many different varieties of shelling peas, sugar snap peas and snow peas, which also have edible pods. Check out the seed racks at your local store and see what looks good to you.

Carrots are another veggie that I like to plant now. They actually can be planted any time from now into the mid- to late- summer, but they will sprout best now when the soil is damp. The seeds need to be kept moist, and that is not always easy if you are planting during our summer dry spell. But right now that is probably not going to be a problem! Carrots tend to be beloved by every critter in your garden, especially slugs, so make sure you use some slug bait (like Sluggo – a bait that will not poison you, your pets or the birds). Carrots now come in a dazzling array of colors – purple, red, orange, yellow and even white. My favorite is a variety called “Mokum” (sold by Territorial Seeds) – it’s super crisp and sweet. But frankly, any garden-grown carrot is hands-down better than the store-bought kind.

When you plant your seeds, be sure and add some fertilizer to your beds or pots. I like to use an organic all-purpose variety formulated for vegetables, but there are many different kinds of fertilizer available. Just follow the directions on the package so you get the right amount on your garden.

I hope I have inspired you to check out the seed racks you see in the stores right now. Ed Hume Seeds are in every Bartell’s, and they are specially selected to grow well in the Pacific Northwest. Nurseries will have many other seed companies to select from as well. Then pull on your boots and get out there and plant, all the while imagining the beautiful salads you will soon be eating!