It seems odd that beets would have anything in common with something as foul, orange and disgustingly crunchy as carrots. However, the seeds of both—as well as seeds for radishes and turnips—should be sown about now. This guideline applies as well to turnip greens, which lack the distended turnip root, and chard, which is like beet greens without the distended beet root.

These seeds should be sown directly into prepared soil in the garden. If seedlings of these vegetables in cell packs or six packs can still be found in nurseries, they are a scam. Six packs cost more than a dollar but only provide six groups of seedlings, which, if not separated, provide only a few vegetables. A packet of seed costs about the same as a six pack, but provides enough seed for several rows of evenly spaced vegetables.

A few cool-season vegetables may be purchased as seedlings if preferred. Onions can be purchased in six packs but then separated and planted individually in rows. Small-leaf lettuce should be planted like greens, but if only a few "head" lettuces are desired, they may also be acquired as seedlings. However, even if only a few pea vines are desired, it is best to grow them from seed, because they are too delicate to bother with as seedlings.

Cool-season vegetables are typically planted repeatedly in small groups every two or three weeks so that those planted later are becoming available as those planted earlier are being depleted. However, in our garden, some of these vegetables are only planted in two phases because we sow the seeds so closely and harvest the vegetables as they become crowded. Each row consequently lasts longer and provides smaller and more tender vegetables. Likewise, rather than harvesting entire lettuce or greens plants, we pluck young outer foliage, but leave the plants in the ground to continue producing.

Tree of the Week: Sweet bay

Sweet bay, Laurus nobilis, is one of the rare exceptions to the rule that Californian species are the best. It is the common herb known as "bay leaf" so often used in Italian-American cuisine. There is certainly nothing wrong with cooking with California bay, Umbellularia californica, if the differences of flavor and pungency are accommodated. However, this is no excuse for a particular Los Gatos supermarket to substitute California bay for sweet bay, which "leaves" the consumer unaware of the discrepancy and wondering what went wrong with an otherwise familiar recipe.

Sweet bay, also called Grecian laurel, is a classic species that has been popular for centuries. It adapts well to formal shearing and has been used for hedges and topiary (real topiary, not cheap imitations formed into wire frames). The aromatic evergreen foliage is dense and dark green. Individual leaves are approximately 3 inches long. Small yellow floral trusses and subsequent inch-wide purplish-black berries are not remarkable and are rarely seen among sheared specimens.

Growth may be slow, but mature specimens will be taller than 15 feet. Few grow taller than 30 feet. Sweet bay may be grown either on a single trunk or with several trunks, but lower dense growth and watersprouts should be pruned away if exposed trunks are preferred. Single trunks should be staked when young. The popular cultivar Saratoga exhibits wider leaves and is shapelier as a small tree.

Sweet bay will be satisfied with just about any soil and requires minimal irrigation when mature, but may be damaged by excessive irrigation if soil does not drain adequately. If sooty mold appears on foliage, it is more unsightly than detrimental, but indicates potentially detrimental infestation of scale.

Incidentally, an arborist colleague has informed me that, unlike most foliar herbs that are best used fresh and while juvenile, leaves of sweet bay have better flavor if plucked when mature and dried.

Horticulturist Tony Tomeo can be contacted at 408-358-2574 or at LGHORTICULTURE@aol.com.