Thursday, October 29, 2009

Great time to Plant for the Cooler Season

Ok so we had a tease of Autumn weather, then back to the heat of summer and then back again --- will the weather make up it's mind please ?  The calendar speaks of pumpkins and apples and ghosts and Halloween. OOOOOO, It's a scary time.


Actually it;s a great time to plant your fall and winter veggies. The last of my tomatoes are still hanging on the vine, but there are fewer and fewer to choose from come salad time. I've harvested two very orange pumpkins, a few more zucchini and then their blossoms (really great in a frittata or egg dish) and a few more eggplant.
But now I want to have chard and broccoli and brussel sprouts -- something hearty to braise or simmer in a soup or stew with beans.
Blue Hill Farms and Sprouting Up Organically are my first choices for seedlings this fall. For some reason, seeds and I just don't get along. Oh I've mail ordered from the best of them, but they just seem to wither and die. But give me a six-pack of chard already started and I'll give them the TLC needed to produce.

And there's a new choice in town, with Nopalito Native Plant Nursery located next to Lassens at 4107 E. Main Street, Ventura specializing in native, drought -tolerant plants. A great opportunity to combine native plants with your veggies and flowers for some bio-diversity. Check it out and say hello to Antonio !