Getting Ready for Spring Gardening

The start of the gardening season is fast approaching. Given our weather for the past month you may have even started your garden already. Had we not moved at the end the last year I may have already put a few things in the ground. Right now my garden is a giant mound of dirt and grass that we need to get cleared and cleaned up before we can even think about planting anything.

When I'm doing my seed and plant selections I like to refer to the Vegetable Variety Selector tool from the Texas A&M website. You can download the guide for Bexar County here or you can search other counties here.

If you go the any of the local nurseries, Rainbow Gardens, The Garden Center and Milberger Nursery are just a few of my favorites in San Antonio, they've usually done the work for you and selected varieties that grow well in the San Antonio area. Many of the big box hardware store also sell young plants, but I've found they're sometimes hit and miss on how well they do. Some HEBs will also carry a good variety and I've done well with plants I've bought there. The benefit of buying seeds or seedlings from the local nursery is the variety. I've found some very unique variations and heirloom varieties at my favorite nursery. Usually you would have to buy seeds online to find some of them.

If you are thinking of starting from seed, you probably should have started in late December/early January. Not everything has to be started from seed, just tender plants like peppers and tomatoes. Many plants such as squash, corn, lettuce, and beans can all be direct sown in the garden. However, if you plan on doing a second planting in late summer now would be a great time to start looking at seeds for things that need to be transplanted.

The Farmer's Almanac has a great guide to spring planting and when to start seeds and when to transplant.

So what are you thinking of growing this year?

Here is my list, although I'm not set of the specific varieties:
Sweet Corn
Broccoli
Yellow Pear Tomatoes
Cherry Tomatoes
Some Variety of Roma Totmato
Heirloom Slicing Tomato
Heirloom Colored Tomato
Bell Peppers
Jalapeno Peppers
Yellow Squash
Zucchini
Rainbow Carrots
Buttercrunch Lettuce
Romaine Lettuce
Spinach
Green Beans
Potatoes