Seeds in the city

By Karen Contreras
If you have never planted a winter garden, this September is a good time to start.  Why this September?  Because there is no time like the present and winter gardening is easier than summer gardening. Although I’m not one for predicting the weather, September usually brings us another four weeks of warm temperatures, which makes sowing seeds directly in the soil easy and very gratifying.
But before we start putting in new plants and dreaming about those delicious fall potatoes, let’s talk some dirt. Or, more correctly speaking, soil. Soil is where it all begins. Soil preparation is key to the success of any garden, but especially in the winter where nitrogen is less active.
To begin, pick a sunny spot in your garden and dig up the ground with a spade or shovel to a depth of at least 10 inches. Turn the soil over, break up any clods and remove any large rocks.  Now add your amendments (at least six inches of compost and manure) and mix it all together by turning the soil over again with the spade. Rake in a good organic vegetable fertilizer and you’re ready to plant. Boy this sounds easy, doesn’t it? Trust me, you’ll be able to forgo that trip to the gym or run around the park the day you dig your garden.
There are so many wonderful things to plant in September!  From seed you can plant beets, carrots, Chinese cabbage, fava beans, leeks, lettuces, onions, parsley, peas, radishes, spinach, Swiss chard and turnips. From transplants, start broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower and celery.
Nothing beats the taste of home-grown potatoes, fresh from the garden, lightly steamed with a little butter and salt. My first experience growing winter potatoes was purely accidental when a previously harvested summer patch started to spout again after the first fall rains.  Since then, we’ve been planting a few every fall and harvesting “new” potatoes for Thanksgiving dinner. Kids love planting and harvesting potatoes and they’re easy to grow.
To plant potatoes, cut a “seed” potato into several pieces, each piece should have two or more “eyes” or spots where the spud will sprout. You’ve seen them do that on their own when you forget about them in a cupboard. Let the pieces dry for a day or two, then dig a trench out in the garden that is about four inches deep. Place your potato pieces about 12 inches apart and cover with two inches of soil.
After the sprouts emerge, cover with another two inches of soil leaving the tips of the leaves exposed. Repeat this until you have a mound about four inches high. Water and mulch and you’ll have potatoes in no time. Harvest young potatoes when the plants bloom by carefully digging around the base of the plant. Pick some small potatoes from each plant, leaving the rest in the ground for later harvest. Potato plants will die back completely when it’s time to harvest your main crop.
Be sure to always rotate the crops in your veggie patch and don’t plant your potatoes where you had your tomatoes growing the season before.  If you can’t find seed potatoes, you can use organically grown potatoes from the Farmer’s Market. Enjoy!  Good gardening to you all.

For answers to your gardening questions, you can e-mail Karen at: karen@urbanplantations.com z