My soil is workable all the time, so planting dates are determined by having sufficient sunlight and enough growing days such that the plant can mature before our heat becomes too strong and ends the life of the plant. I am not practicing true winter sowing as the northerners do. I have read about some who will place their lettuce seeds on top of the snow, then after the snow melts and the seeds come into contact with the ground, they are able to germinate. We don’t have to do that here. We kind of do the opposite. I plant early so the peas will mature before the heat kills the plant! That means planting in January. The photo on the left below shows the progress to date. The peas are quite happy. Those are Hakurei turnips on the right. The Hakurei is a sweet white turnip. There are two plantings, the ones in back have about a 1 week head start. I have always considered turnips an edible vegetable. I have learned some people don’t eat them, but use them as trap crops. The tops are quite alluring to insects and if the plants are placed on the perimeter of the garden, they can intercept the munchers before the can eat something more valuable. I discovered the sweet white turnip last year when I was a member of the local Community Supported Agriculture farm, or CSA. One of the deliveries had them. These seeds I have planted came from Park seeds. I’ll report back on how sweet they are.
