Variety of cool-season vegetables available

No, it's not too early to plant your cool-season vegetable garden. If you plant now through April 1, you will yield delicious vegetables. Cooler weather generates sweeter veggies with fewer pest problems, and you'll use less water.

What to plant: Here is a list of vegetables to plant now: cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, kohlrabi, beets, turnips, radishes, potatoes, parsnips, lettuce, parsley, spinach, chard, mustard greens, collards, endive, onions, garlic, peas, beans, asparagus, artichoke, Jerusalem artichoke, horseradish and rhubarb.

When to plant: These vegetables prefer cooler weather to mature. Note the word "mature," not "plant." It isn't when you plant, it's when you harvest that counts. You begin planting these vegetables four to six weeks before the last average frost date, which is about March 15. As you can see, it is an ideal time to plant the cool ones.

Let's focus more on why to plant now. February's daytime temperatures average in the mid-60s and mid-30s at night. Those temperatures are ideal for good germination conditions for these vegetables.

Assume you planted today, 60 days later -- when they are maturing -- daytime temperatures will be in the low 80s and mid-50s at night. That'll give you snappy carrots, crunchy radishes, crispy heads of lettuce, snow-white heads of cauliflower and so on.

Many Las Vegans are new to the valley and want to wait until April 15 to plant. The average highs will be in the mid-70s and lows in the mid-40s. Vegetables will germinate quicker, but 60 days later when the veggies are maturing, temperatures will be in the 90s, and that's too hot to yield high-quality produce.

Needed sun: These vegetables need four to five hours of sunlight, while fruiting crops such as tomatoes and peppers need six to eight hours of light.

Garden location: Grow your garden as near your back door as possible. This enables you to keep a closer eye on your veggies and keep the bugs under control. Even more importantly, it's easier to get at them to harvest.

Prepare the soil: Whatever you plant, give your vegetables the best growing conditions. Vegetables thrive in rich, well-drained soils. And they'll grow quickly if you provide them a steady supply of moisture and fertilizer. Heavy soils and uneven moisture conditions stress the produce, resulting in tough-tasting crops.

Our desert soils are dead. Resurrect your soil by adding bushels of organic matter to it. Organic matter keeps the soil friable, provides drainage, flushes away salts, encourages soil microorganisms, cools the soil in the summer and warms it in the winter, holds moisture for future plant use, acts as a nutrient storehouse and buffers soil against chemical misuse.

Container growing: You may want to grow your vegetables in containers. There are many containers to choose from that are very decorative.

For fun, mix your vegetables with flowers. Or grow them in hanging baskets, because they're very attractive -- especially at eye level -- and provide a cool feeling while you are sitting on your patio. Use matching baskets with feathery-topped carrots or ruffle-leafed beets hanging between columns of your entryway. Your imagination is your only limitation. Like other containers, be attentive to their watering and fertilizing needs.

Plant at the proper depth: It's critical. Crops such as lettuce need daylight to germinate, so just cover them. Plant larger, seeded crops deeper. Sprinkle a light application of mulch over the seeded area to prevent the soil from crusting.

Keep the soil moist: Crusting makes it tough for seeds to emerge, so keep the soil surface moist until the seeds emerge. As the seedlings develop, spread out the watering turns and water for a longer period of time. Deep watering pushes roots deeper to meet the plant's demands.

Feeding: Use an all-purpose fertilizer found at your nursery, and feed often. Spread the nutrients under the plant's canopy and irrigate it in.

Thin plants: If you fail to thin your vegetables, they can't develop properly. Do the thinning when plants get two inches tall.

When to harvest: The photographs on seed packets tell you when produce is at the peak of quality. Many of us discard these pictures and wait too long to harvest, missing out on when they are at their peak. Zucchini is a good case in point. It is mature when it's six to eight inches long, not when it's a foot long.

Finally, visit your garden daily with an eye peeled for invaders. If you see one cabbage looper, pick it off before it becomes a butterfly and produces more.

Linn Mills writes a garden column each Sunday. You can reach him at linn.mills@ springspreserve.org or call him at 822-7754.