Winter Gardening

Los Angeles has finally started to grow on me.  I’ve lived here for almost eight years now. One of the things I enjoy is winter gardening.  Vegetables grow here all year round. It’s nice.

This year, since we had our backyard redone, I actually have some nice garden space that, even better, is hooked up to a sprinkler system. I tend to get a little lazy about the watering after a while.

Since we just finished the backyard, I cheated and planted 3 inch plants instead of starting from seed.  It’s a little late in the season to start planting.  Usually October/November is a better time to plant here.

I went a little crazy with the greens.  I have four varieties of lettuce, two kale types, two cabbages, and collard greens. I tried to get a variety of colors so it looked pretty.

The greens area

Our landscaper started us off with these gorgeous ornamental cabbage. They’re too pretty to eat anyway.

ornamental cabbage

I planted three strawberry plants.

Strawberries

I put in some parsley in with the oregano that was already there.

oregano and parsley

I potted some orange mint and basil because I bought too many plants and ran out of room in the garden.

potted basil and orange mint

I also decided to try some fun vegetables.  These are Brussel sprouts.  They grow on stalks. I hope they grow well. If they do, come summer I’ll have Brussel sprouts coming out of my ears.

Brussel sprouts

And my very favorite, two artichoke plants against the back wall.  They grow into bushes and can produce thirty globe artichokes a season.  I believe they’re perennials, so I’ll have artichokes for years to come.

Artichoke

Do you have a winter garden?  What do you have in yours?  Any advice for me on the Brussel sprouts and artichokes.

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