Starting my winter garden and what i'm planting this year!

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     It is the miserably hot time of year here in Phoenix.  My Spring/Summer garden has had it and so have I as far as going out to work for very long in the garden.  This morning I went out pulled out the last of the dead tomato plants with their last few sunburned and yellowed stragglers of cherry tomatoes on them.  Only a few other plants remain, alive and trying to survive in this heat, some pepper plants, malabar spinach and some oregano that is thriving! My goal to have something that I can harvest throughout the year has been met, and that makes me feel satisfied!  But, now is the time to get my soil and plants ready to go in for my Fall/Winter garden, and this is definitely not the time of year that I want to be out doing that!  So, I am doing what I can inside, in the air conditioned house while I wait for the temperatures to come down just a bit.  Let me tell you what I'm doing! 

     I love gardening, and while I am not an expert, I am learning more and more every season that I put in a garden.  Watching my plants grow and then getting a harvest is such a good feeling!  Living in a place like Phoenix, AZ is really a blessing for gardeners when you learn how to garden in the hot desert climate because we can garden all year round!  

      This makes me wonder what those of you do who live in other climates?  I grew up in the central valley of CA, and there is a lot of gardening there!  My family always had a Spring/Summer Garden, but I don't even know if it was possible to grow in the Winter because it did freeze, but rarely snowed at all.  So, I'm guessing we could have done something.  What do you guys do who live in colder climates?  Cold frames?  Green houses?  We have no real need for those things here in Phoenix, so I wish I had a chance to give them a try.  It sounds like fun! Ha Ha!  
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     Alicia has been trying her hand at gardening in GA, and I know that one of her biggest battles has been the deer!  I don't have that problem either!  Most of the pests I battle here are of the insect variety, such as squash beetles and aphids.  Birds can also be a problem, as well as rodents, but "knock on wood" those haven't troubled my yard too much. 

     I was converted to Fall/Winter gardening back in 2023 actually.  I wrote about why I love it so much on this post.

Since that time I have been putting in a Fall/Winter garden annually.  If you live in Phoenix and want to start gardening for the first time, I would recommend this season of gardening as your starting place.  It is just so much easier! 

     So, with all of that said, here is what I'm doing now to get ready to put my garden in by September! 

• Step 1:  Make a plan!  I pulled out my Garden Journal and decided what I wanted to plant, where I wanted to plant it in my garden and how much of it I would plant.  
• Step 2:  I checked my seed supply!  I save seeds, get seeds from friends who save seeds, and I buy seeds from SeedsNow, Dollar Tree and anywhere else I see seeds at a good price that I want! As a matter of fact, SeedsNow has a seed subscription program that I belong to! Also, check your local Dollar Tree right away, because their seeds have been costing only .15 per packet!  
• Step 3:  I started sprouting seeds to start my seedlings. 

     Don't know how to sprout your own seeds?  Here is how I do it:  
*Get a paper towel and fold it into quarters.  Wet the paper towel so that it is wet but not super drippy.  Open the paper towel so that it is now only folded in half.  Sprinkle your seeds on one side of the fold and then close the towel over the seeds, pressing it over them so that the moisture of the towel covers the seeds.  Slip the folded towel into a plastic baggie and put it in a drawer or hang it in the shade for a few days.  Usually by the 3rd day your seeds will be sprouted and you can transplant them to a red cup.  ​(Read about the Red Cup Method Here)  In a few weeks the plants will be ready to transplant into your garden! 

     
     So, here is exactly what I am putting in this year:

• Beets-I put these in both my Fall and Spring gardens.  I love the greens especially! 

• Peas-In Phoenix, these have to go in early because they don't like the heat at all.  But, I love fresh peas so much!  I had a great harvest last year and saved some of those super successful seeds! 
• Broccoli-I'm trying this again because my first year growing it was so successful and it tasted so much better than store bought broccoli!  I'm trying purple as well as green this year. 
• Winter Squash
• Carrots-I've only had one successful season growing carrots, so I'm trying them again! 
• Swiss Chard-I've never grown this before, but I like to try something new each season.  I think chard will go well with my beet greens! 
• Cilantro-because salsa!
• Tomatoes-also salsa and everything else tomatoey.
• Celery-Anita gets such delicious celery in her garden, I had to give it a try.  
• Lavender-I've got to have flowers to attract pollinators and I can dry lavender.
• Nasturtiums-another flower that I tried to grow in the wrong season!  Hopefully these will do well in the winter garden!  

     Do you do a winter garden?  Tell me all about it in the comments!  I'm becoming a geek about gardening and I love it!