How soon can I start planting vegetables in an outdoor garden in Vancouver? I am wondering about planting spinach, peas, kale, etc.? I am new to this and looking for advice from experienced gardeners on what to plant and when to plant in order to make the best use of my plot. Thanks from Idig Gardening
A friend north of Seattle relies heavily on raised beds and covered frames. The other day he mentioned that even peas had been much better started under cover.
Idig, you can start all of the vegetables that you mentioned right now, if you do as Ron suggested. I plant peas, onions, leeks, lettuce, spinach, broccoli, and cauliflower as soon as the soil can be worked in the spring. February is not too early with the kind of weather we've been getting. This year, January would have worked, if I had the time to do it then. Sandy, well-draining soil is important to early planting. I always use a plastic tunnel cloche to cover these early plantings. All of the mentioned plants sprout and grow easily, except the peas. They are prone to rotting in the cool soil and need special treatment, like fungicide and/or pre-sprouting. I'm sure that just about any cool weather crop could be planted under cover now.
I think this year would be a great year to start gardening early as the weather has been around 10 during the day & we have had allot of sun. As soon as I can get set up I will transplant my kale that is undercover @ my old house & move it to Maple Ridge where I live now . I also have swiss chard growing there that i planted last fall. this winter has been mild & they are growing well under corrugated plastic panels. I am new to winter gardening & am wondering what other people have been growing through the winter & what I can start early under cover or inside
