Willow Glen Resident

Gardening

Colorful Filler: Flowering cabbage and kale have edible, frilly blue-green leaves accented in various shades of purple, pink and white. Foliar color is best in full sun and after the first frost; the latter can also sweeten the leaves' strong flavor.

It may be warm out, but it's a cool time for veggie plants

By Tony Tomeo

Planting time for cool-season vegetables seems to come too soon. Their schedule is not as obvious as it is for warm-season vegetables that are planted at the beginning of their season, just as weather is getting warmer after the last frost. Cool-season vegetables are planted somewhat before their season, preferring to be in the ground before the weather actually gets cool. They do not have the advantage of increasingly warm weather to accelerate their growth, but instead grow slower as the weather gets cooler. This is why they like a bit of time to spread their roots and get some foliage out at the end of summer and into autumn.

The trick is to get cool-season vegetable plants into the ground so that they have some time to grow before winter, but not so early that they "bolt" prematurely, beginning to produce the tall flower stalks that ruin the flavor of the foliar (leaf) vegetables. Cauliflower and broccoli are two cool-season vegetables grown for their immature flower clusters instead of their foliage, but only after the plants have grown large enough to slowly produce large, succulent flower clusters. Peas need to bloom to produce their pods, but are best when they can take their time in cool weather.

Most of the cool-season vegetables are "cole" crops, which are related to cabbage (of the family Cruciferae/Brassicaceae). This includes, but is not limited to: broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, kale, kohlrabi, collards and Brussels sprouts. Any of these can be planted now through the end of September, except for Brussels sprouts, which should be planted as soon as possible. Brussels sprouts are actually not very well adapted to the Santa Clara Valley and are rarely planted anyway.

Turnips, turnip greens, mustard greens and radishes are related, but are generally not considered to be cole crops. They, as well as unrelated carrots, chard, lettuce and peas, should be planted at about the same time as the cole crops. However, with the exception of peas, any of these can be planted all year in cool parts of the garden. Beets, likewise, can be planted all year, but prefer to be planted from February until about now.

Some cool-season vegetables are not often planted in the Santa Clara Valley because winter is either too warm or too cool. Celery can be planted after July until September, but often bolts if warm weather continues later than usual. Potatoes can be planted about now, but likewise spend much of their time blooming instead of making potatoes. When the occasional frost finally stimulates development of potatoes, the weather is too cool for potatoes to mature.

This is an awkward time in the garden. The cool-season vegetables want to move in, but the warm-season vegetables are not ready to move out. If soil does not need to get tilled between plantings, new vegetable plants can be planted below old plants. When the old plants are finished, or simply removed to get them out of the way, the new plants should have had some time to grow and get their roots out. Spinach and onions are cool-season vegetables that should actually wait until September--about the same time that space becomes available. If a two-week supply of each vegetable gets planted every two weeks, a fresh batch should become available as the previous batch gets depleted.

Flower of the Week:
Flowering cabbage and kale

Flowering cabbage and kale look good enough to eat--and they are. They are sometimes used as a strongly flavored and brightly colored garnish or cabbage substitute for soups and salads. Kale has looser and more coarsely textured foliage than the more compact cabbage, which has more rounded leaves. Some flowering kale has leaves that are quite lacy, with intricate margin patterns. Foliage is bluish green at the base, with white, yellowish white, pink, purple and pinkish-purple margins. Color is best in full sun and after the first frost.

Like their vegetable relatives, they get planted about now, but instead of getting harvested in winter or spring, can be left in the garden until it is time to plant warm- season annuals. They are biennials that will eventually bolt and bloom, but their tall flower stalks are unremarkable amidst their dying basal foliage.

Listen to Tony Tomeo's 'New Image Garden Report' Friday mornings at 8:10 a.m. on KSCO-1080 A.M. (or online at www.ksco.com). He can be reached at 888.226.9191 or www.ttomeo@newimagelandscaping.com.