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Now is the time for cool crops!  I like to plant my cool crops in raised planters and raised beds.  There are many benefits raised planters and beds – keeps pathway weeds from the garden soil, keeps little critters such as snails and slugs out, supplies great drainage – but the most timely advantage to a raised bed right now is that you can plant your cool crops now!  And with little else to do in the garden at this time, the work we put into our beds now, will produce fabulous benefits even sooner.  Wow, I guess I’m actually thinking “inside the box” for once! 

For my cabbage, I am going to use cedar window boxes for the look I want for my patio and growing small red beets and kale two of my preferred vegetables to sauté together and also use in salads.   My favorite beet is the “Early Wonder” sweet and wonderful and for kale I enjoy the “Dinosaur” variety which is sweet and nutty.  Instead of having the boxes sitting directly on the slate, I purchased cedar posts that I cut and attached to the window box to raise them 3ft.  This year I painted my boxes a vibrant green – I think the colors and textures of the vegetables will be really fun against the bright color.  With the soil mix in the container, I sow my beet and kale seeds about a half an inch apart and cover with a half an inch of soil.  I count down the days until harvest, which can be in May or June depending on the growth of my little friends.

My raised bed will also be painted the vibrant green and house my leaf lettuce, broccoli and herbs.  I will be planting “Salad Bowl”, “Black Seeded Simpson” and “Royal Oak” lettuce by sprinkling the seeds directly into the soil in rows right from the package.  I prefer to cover these seeds with about a quarter inch a very light soil and keep the soil damp until they germinate.  Maybe it’s my motherly instincts, but I always pamper my delicate lettuce babies until they sprout.  Lettuce harvests come within 6-8 weeks, so consider doing successive plantings every 2 to 3 weeks to keep the crop coming throughout the summer. My broccoli, I plant just as I do my cabbage – a half an inch apart and covered with a half an inch of soil. 

For my herb border in the raised bed this season, I just might purchase mature plants and simply add to my raised beds and containers.  It’s a personal choice whether to sow the seeds or buy plants, but the eager and visual gardener in me gets excited to select plants.  

Ready, Set, Beds!   

- Barbara