3 Reasons to Add Cool-Season Vegetables to Your Garden

In all the excitement of starting your tomato seeds, don't forget about the accommodating "shoulder seasons" in your edible garden. Spring and fall are easy times to grow. Plant now!
Three Reasons to Grow Cool Season Vegetables
* Many of the crops want to be direct sown in the soil. This means no indoor seed germination for you. * You have a chance to fool around in your vegetable garden when the air is cool (unlike those hot days of August). Weeding is more fun when it's 60°F instead of 95°F. * For Californians, and others in summer droughts, Mother Nature often does a lot of the watering for you in spring and fall.
Direct Sowing
In our video about direct sowing, Tricia plants seeds straight into moist soil in her raised beds. Peas, greens and lettuces, and root vegetables all do well when directly sown in cool, springtime soil -- which makes them ideal for novice vegetable gardeners. Sow from July on too -- a perfect time for root vegetables, like our 'Joan' rutabagas, that want to start in midsummer soil and keep on growing through the fall. Check with your local Master Gardeners for the best time to sow your fall garden. In Nevada County we usually sow our fall gardens in the first week of August.
Weed on Cool Days
Oh, those sweltering summer days -- there's a reason they call it "corn-growing weather". Corn, tomatoes, beans, and more thrive in the heat. Gardeners? Not so much. With a spring or fall garden you can weed even at high noon. In the summer you might have to fall out of bed at 6 a.m. to beat the heat.
Save on Water
What would you say if someone offered you free irrigation for your garden? You'd probably jump at the chance. Use the spring and fall rains to nurture your crops. Summer spells drought for many states, with our unpredictable weather -- and it's always a dry summer in most of the West.