Categories: Edibles

What to Plant Now

By Published On: October 8, 2013
What to Plant Now

Carrots!Take advantage of our warm fall weather. Warm days and nights mean warm soil temperatures — ideal for seed germination. And carrots can be so darn fussy and slow to germinate you don’t want to miss your window. If you live in the San Francisco Bay Area or a similar climate (in the range of USDA hardiness zone 10) don’t wait.

Winter carrots are the best of the best. Cold weather develops and heightens the sugars, or sugars-up, amplifying and sharpening the existing flavors, making carrots of any other season seem dull and lackluster (although I could argue in favor of nearly any homegrown carrot). Carrots, and other veggies, grown into winter develop a complexity of flavor. Not unlike what a good heat wave can do to a summer crop of grapes or tomatoes.

Tips for growing carrots:

  • Carrots like sandy to finer, loamy soils free of rocks or other obstacles.
  • If you’re not working with optimal soil, choose a variety of carrot that will work with you. Try varieties of shorter carrots, Little Finger or Round Romeo’s for instance.
  • Grow your carrots from seed and be sure to read and follow the seed packet instructions. This is your go-to source of information, especially when planting a new variety and especially if planting for the first time.
  • Your carrots will probably be ready to harvest in about 3 months. Check if they’re ready by brushing away the soil at the base of the stem. Look at the shoulders of the carrot to be sure it looks the way you think it should.
  • Try more than one variety. You never know what will take or what might thrive in your particular micro climate.
  • Complete your harvest by February unless you’d like a few to go to flower — the animals would love this.

Other crops to grow at this time:

  • Sugar snap peas
  • Kale
  • Lettuces
  • Chard
  • Artichoke
  • Radishes
  • Bulb onion from seed
  • Shallots
  • Spinach
  • Garlic
  • Turnips
  • Fava beans

 

Green Gulch Flower Gardens
10 Benefits of Trees & More

Listen

Grow what you love podcast
Grow what you love podcast on Spotify
Grow what you love podcast on itunes
Grow what you love podcast on Google Play
Grow what you love podcast on Stitcher
Grow what you love podcast on Tune In

Buy The Book

Buy the book

Special offers

Begin Composting Today With SubPod

Newsletter Signup

Newsletter



Yes, you can tell me about your other products and services! Privacy Policy

Archives

Disclosure

Pass The Pistil is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program and other affiliate programs such as Etsy, affiliate advertising programs designed to provide a means for sites to earn fees by advertising and linking to curated affiliate sites.

 

About the Author: Emily Murphy

I’ve learned there’s something wonderfully powerful in the simple act of growing. Here, in our gardens, we can repair ourselves and our plots of earth with our own two hands. GROW WHAT YOU LOVE and GROW NOW!

Related Articles

2 Comments

  1. Sophia October 26, 2013 at 8:17 am - Reply

    Emily, here in my garden plot in Tiburon, I grow potatoes all yearlong. And, if i wasn’t leaving, i’d be shoving some garlic cloves in the ground. Last year’s fava beans planted in the fall, didn’t produce until it got warmer in the spring, whereas when planted in the spring, they produce in no time.

    • Emily Murphy October 26, 2013 at 9:21 am - Reply

      I love potatoes all year long too. Yum. Selfishly wish you would put some garlic in – maybe that would mean you’d stay another season? :)

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.