Plant These 12 Vegetables Before It s Too Late

If you're starting to think about tomatoes and summer planting, hold on for a second because there's a short window right now for cool season crops and once it closes you don't get it back until fall. So in this video I'm going to walk you through 12 vegetables ranked by urgency so you know exactly what to plant first. Let's start with the ones going in the ground today. Snow peas are first on this list because they really do need cool weather in order to produce well. Once temps start to climb consistently into the 70s and 80s the plants are going to stop flowering and the harvest is basically over for the season. These are normally planted four to six weeks before your last frost date or as soon as your soil is workable. And my climate that usually means sometime in February and I planted mine a little bit later than I would have liked. Actually I just put them in now and I already wish I had moved faster. So if your soil is workable right now this is one of those vegetables I would not delay. The variety I'm planting is Beauregard snow peas from row seven seeds. They're beautiful purple pods that are sweet and tender and they hold that color even after cooking and they are really easy to grow. I'll link the exact ones I'm using below. I'm using the trellis between my Vego Garden raised beds and they'll just climb right up on their own. So in about 60 days you're harvesting peas straight off the vine and the reason I plant them here is because once they're done I'm going to pull them out and plant cucumbers right behind them in the same space. That transition right there is what makes a small garden actually keep producing because what most people don't realize is it's not just about what you plant it's about what comes next and whether you leave yourself enough time for it. That's the part that took me the longest to figure out and it's what I walk through step by step inside my intentional garden system course how to plant it out so that everything fits together and your garden keeps producing. I've linked that below for you and this next vegetable is one that I've planted too late more often than anything else. Broccoli needs a long stretch of cool weather to develop a proper head and if it goes into the garden too late and temperatures rise too quickly you end up with yellow flowers instead of nice heads of broccoli and if you have a shorter growing season this one matters more than most because if broccoli takes too long there's not going to be enough time for you to get your summer vegetables in after the broccoli is done. So to give it enough time I start mine indoors and then transplant it outside once it's ready. I just planted mine out on March 12th and it's March 17th right now. You most likely can find transplants for sale just nice little established plants at your local nurseries right now so if you haven't started it indoors that's always an option to consider. The variety I'm growing is Bell Star. It's reliable it produces nice large heads and it handles warm weather better than most and that variety I have linked below for you if you want to check it out. In terms of Bell Star broccoli you're going to get your main head in about 60 days and then smaller side shoots after that and because timing is tight for me right now I'll be pulling these out earlier than ideal to make room for tomatoes which means slightly smaller broccoli heads but I'm totally okay with that trade-off. Cabbage follows this exact same window. I transplanted my golden acre cabbage at the same time as the broccoli. Golden acre is compact and it matures faster than a lot of other varieties which is exactly what you want in a spring planting window like this. I started it indoors along with my broccoli and I spaced it just like my broccoli 12 inches apart in my square foot garden bed. Once it's in it's a very low maintenance crop. You just let it grow until the head firms up and then harvest before it gets too warm. Now this next one is where giving yourself a head start really matters. The majority of the lettuce I grow is baby leaf cut and come again lettuce which means you harvest it in about an inch above the soil line and then it grows back a few times before the plant is done. But when springtime finally arrives I like to grow trucus lettuce as a special treat because it forms really beautiful purple and stunning lime green heads and it's something that I absolutely cannot ever find at the store. I transplanted mine at the same time as the broccoli and cabbage. Spacing is about 12 inches apart in my square foot garden bed. This one I've got marked off by string here and you're going to have full heads of trucus lettuce in about 50 days maximum. Getting this in early is what keeps it from bolting when temperatures start climbing and it gives it a chance to form heads. The next vegetable is one of the easiest ways to get a real return out of your space. I planted my potatoes just a couple days ago about three weeks before my last frost date. Potatoes prefer cool soil and planting them early gives them the best chance to produce before the heat sets in. I grow mine in grow bags. It makes harvesting really simple especially in a small space and I'm going to link the ones I use below. The variety I'm growing is Yukon Gold. You can harvest small new potatoes in about 60 to 70 days or let them mature fully for storage at around 90 to 100 days. Because they grow well in containers and store well they're one of the most valuable vegetables you can grow in a smaller space. Now these next two are where timing really starts to matter if you're trying to turn beds over for summer. I planted my beets about six weeks before my last frost date and that's the end of February so that they would have enough time to mature before I need this space for summer vegetables. But if your spring runs longer than mine you may still have time to plant them now. They're typically ready for harvesting around 45 to 60 days after sowing with greens ready as early as a month after planting. I usually plant early wonder tall top and badger flame beets. Early wonder is especially great if you want the greens as well and I'm going to link that variety below. Seeds go in about half an inch deep and I space mine around four inches apart. For baby beets you can harvest as early as one inch in diameter or wait for three to four inch roots. The next vegetable follows almost the exact same timing as the beets so they're so easy to plant alongside them. I planted my carrots about six weeks before my last frost date for the same reason as the beets to make sure they're finished before summer planting starts. I actually have netting over my beds right here because squirrels started digging in there which would obviously have interrupted germination so that solved that problem. But again depending on your climate you may still have time for carrots. I'm growing the romance variety which is an earlier variety that's ready in around 70 days and it does really well in raised beds. The seeds go in about an eighth to a quarter of an inch deep and the soil has to stay constantly moist until they germinate. I'll usually cover the rows with either cardboard or a board to help the soil hold the moisture in until germination happens. Now this next one is the fastest thing on this list and it's one of the easiest ways to make sure you actually get a harvest in a short window. Radishes are one of the quickest vegetables you can grow. I usually like to grow the cherry bell variety and it's ready in about 25 to 30 days and I'll link those below. So that makes it perfect for early spring because you can plant it now and be harvesting before most other vegetables are even getting started. I tuck them in pretty much anywhere I can fit them along the edges of my raised beds usually. They grow really well in cool weather and cherry bell stays crisp and mild longer than a lot of other varieties so you don't have to hit the timing perfectly to get a good harvest. They're also really small so like I said you can tuck them in pretty much wherever and plant them pretty close together or you know tuck them into open spaces between your slower vegetables which makes them great for small gardens. Seeds go in about half an inch deep spaced about an inch apart and they're going to germinate quickly in cool soil. Spinach is another quick one and it thrives in cool weather but it does bolt quickly once it warms up. I've been direct sowing mine in succession every couple weeks since late February. The varieties I'm growing are Bloomsdale and Baby Greens which are ready in around a month and if you cut it about an inch above the soil it's going to regrow. I will link those varieties below. Now these next vegetables are about as low effort as it gets once they're established. They're two herbs that love cooler weather. Cilantro actually self-seeded all over the area where I grew it last year so I already have it coming up without planting anything. But if you're starting fresh now is the time because it bolts quickly once it heats up. If you want it to self-seed like mine did let it go to flower and then let it go to seed and then just let the plant dry out and the seeds are going to drop and then the plants are going to grow when the conditions are naturally ripe. Parsley is even more cold tolerant than cilantro. Mine stayed green all winter and I've been harvesting it for months. For both cilantro and parsley you can direct sow it outside in containers this time of year or you can find established plants at local nurseries and there's no shame in that because you can start harvesting immediately. Speaking of that this next vegetable I talk about in almost all my videos because they're one of the highest value things you can grow in a small space for many reasons. I've grown evergreen bunching onions or scallions every year ever since I can remember especially because you plant them once and they keep coming back every spring. They actually stay green all winter in my climate because they're so cold tolerant. They put on nice green growth really early in the spring. They also multiply at the base and if you let them flower they reseed themselves so those are two different ways that they multiply. So you plant them once and then you have a continuous supply of scallions. Just keep dividing them every once in a while and put your free new plants in different spots in your garden if you'd like. If you harvest as scallions leaving some green above the soil line the plants grow back. They grow fast and they can produce new shoots in just a few days offering that continuous harvest. So these are 12 vegetables you can still plant before the heat arrives. You're not too late in most locations but this window does close quickly. If you get these in now they'll have time to mature before you transition into tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and everything else that comes next. And if you want more small space high value gardening content tap or click the video on your screen. Thanks so much for watching and I'll see you in the next one.