I'm hoping the Midwest will be represented in future videos since it's still too early to start most seeds, even indoors, in my Zone 5B. Really enjoyed this format when you've done it in the past and love seeing the seed packets of the plants that are being sown.
Joining in on the Midwestern Wait here 😂. 6a/b (literally on the line, haha) and I keep seeing videos of people starting seeds and it makes me itchy/paranoid, but I know it's just too early for here yet (plus I don't have a grow light and they always end up leggy even in my southern window!)
If this is the format you were mentioning in your earlier video.....keep them coming! Outstanding! I love the variety of experts and their knowledge! Still love you Kevin❤.
I had ground cherries pop up on their own around my garden. I’ve never even had those seeds. I guess they grow wild around here! That was cool to find! They did die in our recent freeze but I managed to salvage one for seeds. I wasn’t sure what they were at first but used a plant identification app to find out. Such cute little yellow cherry inside a husk. What a find! 🤷🏻♀️👍🏻
You didn't get flash-flooded! My sister lives in Encinitas - the orange blob went over her house and she's OK - staying cozy inside today. Hope you are, too!
If you watch the precipitation forecasts when a storm moves over land they color the intensity in different shades - greens are light showers, yellow is steady rain and orange or red is a downpour. Today's storm had an orange blob that was shown heading in between Del Mar and Oceanside. @@BP-bx6si
Very informative, thank you! This year I will be growing "Thai Basil". It is served in the vietnamese Pho dish and tastes absolutely out of this world.
I skipped herbs to focus on bigger vegetables but this fall and winter I’ve been playing around with tons more herbs and finding a real love for their fast growing nature, taste, smell, propagation via cuttings. Lots of fun to be had with the basil and mint.
I love watching how people from warm regions take care of seedlings while I have so much snow outside my window that the sun is not visible- snowdrifts up to the second floor. :D I will definitely use these tips in a couple of months. :)
Love these new collaboration videos. I learned some great tips. I love the carrot and radish tip of planting them together. I am going to try that this year.
Yes! I’m 5a I stuck those types of seeds in the fridge to cold stratify this time around, but I have been toying with the idea of WS. I moved to this house at the end of fall, so my yard wasn’t prepped for winter gardening. I’m hoping I can still get my garden patch prepped early enough for peas and lettuce etc!
9a South Central Texas here and just planted arugula and spinach outside and several varieties of pepper, thyme, basil, chocolate mint, spearmint, and a bunch of other seeds inside. March can’t come soon enough!! Love the tips for medicinal herbs since most of my deck garden will be for teas and medicines.
I'm with you on peppers. I got into them hard last year with Jacques and planted them in groupings with very close spacing. Huge Success. Then I wintered over a few (10). Now my pepper agenda is really niche. I'll start one round in February and another in March. Its definitely in my top 5 for edibles.
Peppers are so much fun to grow! I grew Yum Yums (tiny sweet peppers) last season and they were so prolific! I am just about through the 3 gallons I froze, not counting what I added to canned sauces etc.
I'm really happy to see all the new creators on the channel. I'm so glad Megan has joined the channel. Her growing area is pretty similar to mine except they get cooler temps in the winter. It gets hot and humid in my area and summer can be brutal to things we like to grow in the summer like tomatoes. The early jalapenos are one of my garden staples. They always produce well and usually outperform all the other pepper varieties. I had a tomato hornworm strip half of one of my plants before I found it. That one still bounced back and I got two harvests off it.
Im only a couple mins in but great recommendation on the ground cherries. I’ve been growing them for years just so i have a snack while I’m picking weeds😂
Interesting to see the variety grown in different zones. I'm in zone 4a. Tomatoes are my favourite to grow. This year I'd like to give those ground cherries a try!
I just had a freak warm day in Michigan, it got up to 48F yesterday, and I got into the garden 20 minutes before it started getting dark. I have cilantro self seeding already, I had to dig it out and bring it in before we get another snow storm lol.
I'm so jealous outside cut flowers, lisianthus. I can't start anything yet. Enjoy sowing all of you in warm climates. Although when your excitement slows us up north, we will be getting excited, lol I am learning lessons from my garden journal this season. When everyone posts its time i am challenging myself by holding onto my willpower to wait. I made that mistake several years in a row ended up trees. I am holding back my urge to get growing. In the end know saving extra effort and energy.
@@bertarnoldo5199 yeah I did purchase winter covers for early spring planting. Below 0F average night temperatures nothing much makes it until late March. It's ok will get going just watching and enjoying others while planning. I am doing some winter sowing to help the urge. 😉
I _just_ used my cilantro the other day to make some cilantro lime rice. I'm in 6b and it self-seeded from last year's and has been chilling (literally!) the entire winter. It's been under several inches of snow and while it was in the single digits outside for a week, and now everything's melted off and it's happily doing its thing in the (sort of) warmer weather.
My favorite eggplant variety is the Asian long eggplant. The plants are very productive, the eggplants are easier to cook evenly due to their elongated shape, and they can still be eaten after the seeds on the inside have matured. Although my attempt to overwinter the plants failed, I managed to save thousands of seeds from last year, from just 3-4 eggplants.
I’m going to try the tip of growing radishes and carrots mixed together! I even already have the Easter egg blend and the shin kuroda in my seed collection 😋
I left my eggplant in the ground and cut it back, over the winter here in So California. One never looked dormant, and just flourished. I am hoping to have eggplant earlier this year. I dug out and repotted some of my peppers, but kept them close to their original location. They are already blossoming. This time, I am going to repot them in pots rather than in my raised beds, prime real-estate,
P. pruinosa - ground cherry: prostrate, spreading plant with approximately ½-inch fruit that falls from the plant when ripe. P. peruviana - goldenberry: large, upright plant (4-6 feet) with approximately ¾-inch fruit. Fruit must be pulled or cut off the plant.
I would to love see Meg's ground cherry plants after they are at home in their grow bags! For me, ground cherries are a special part of my history as generations of my ancestors tended a plot that was over 100 years old, the plants returning year after year by reseeding themselves. Sadly, that special plot was lost when the property was sold to development....fast forward to present day - I am starting ground cherry seeds to also transplant to grow bags....so I would love to see an updates on Megs ground cherry plants as they grow! 😊
*Ground Cherries* (Physalis): Native to the Americas, ground cherries are sweet and versatile fruits related to tomatoes and tomatillos. They're excellent for fresh eating, jams, and desserts like upside-down cake. Start seeds indoors and transplant after the last frost. *Tomatoes:* Consider starting determinant tomato varieties for processing like sauces, alongside favorites like Sun Gold cherry tomatoes and Cherokee Carbon beefsteaks. Plant beefsteaks in full sun and cherry tomatoes where they get slightly less sun. *Aubergines (Eggplants):* Start aubergine seeds early for a longer growing season. Choose varieties suited to your space and climate. Germinate seeds indoors in a warm environment and transplant after the danger of frost has passed. *Anise Hyssop:* Ideal for tea and culinary use, anise hyssop seeds benefit from cold stratification. Pre-moisten soil before planting seeds, and ensure they have access to light for germination. Transplant to pots once seedlings are established. *Peppers:* Start peppers indoors with a heat mat for quicker germination. Choose varieties suited to your climate, from early maturing jalapenos to sweet Italian frying peppers like Jimmy Nardello. Peppers take time to mature, so starting early is essential. *Echinacea:* Grow Echinacea for herbal remedies and its beauty in the garden. Start seeds indoors and expect blooms in the first year. Provide adequate moisture and be patient, as they can be slow to start. *Carrots and Radishes:* Plant carrots and radishes together to aid in thinning and soil aeration. Radishes mature faster, making space for carrots as they grow. Sprinkle seeds chaotically for a natural look and easier thinning. *Sweet Peas:* Sow sweet pea seeds in deep pots for their fragrance and vertical growth. Keep compost damp and maintain cool temperatures for optimal growth. Start indoors and transplant once established. *Herbs: Herbs* like winter savory may need special attention for germination. Press seeds lightly into the soil surface and keep consistently moist. Use bottom watering to prevent displacement of seeds and water as needed, not on a schedule. *Tulsi Basil* (Holy Basil): Start tulsi basil seeds indoors for kitchen, medicinal, and dye purposes. Germinate quickly and transplant once established. Use domes to maintain heat and humidity, and water from the bottom to avoid disturbing seeds. *Cilantro* tends to bolt in hot weather, but you can celebrate this as it produces coriander seeds. Choose varieties like 'Slow Bolting Santo' or plant cilantro in cooler months like February, March, or April for better growth. Check out the video for a detailed guide.
Wow! I loved this video, gardeners from different places with their favorite vegetables/herbs. I am in 7A zone in Georgia. I can't wait to starts my seedlings. I have always started late and didn't enjoy the full crops. I think I will try to start now. Thank you all. Happy gardening.
OK, I loved this video. It's really nice to see different zones represented. So many chanels only talk about what they are growing and don't even give the growing zones of the things they are growing. Great idea.
I'm really happy to see all the new creators on the channel. I'm so glad Megan has joined the channel. Her growing area is pretty similar to mine except they get cooler temps in the winter. It gets hot and humid in my area and summer can be brutal to things we like to grow in the summer like tomatoes. The early jalapenos are one of my garden staples. They always produce well and usually outperform all the other pepper varieties. I had a tomato hornworm strip half of one of my plants before I found it. That one still bounced back and I got two harvests off it.
Where are you located? I live in Puerto Rico and can never find advice on how to plant and what to plant in a Caribbean environment!! Thanks for any info
Follow David The Good. He’s in Lower Alabama now, but he’s been in South Florida, the Caribbean, and Central America previously. He writes books on what to grow in tropic and sub-tropic regions.
hi kevin and crew 🤗 im in your area and my raised beds & containers are oversaturated from thursday's rain ... and there's still more to come on/off into next week. great time to plan my starts and direct sows - when the soil dries out a bit. thanks for more ideas. i get botanical interests seeds from armstrong and already see a few packs i may pick up. tfs
@@nikkireignsyes they will! WI also and last year it rained in January and the seeds either germinated and froze or rotted. This weather is way out of whack here and I know my winter sow has become a spring sow. Smart to wait.
@@nikkireigns try keeping your winter sown containers on the north side of your house or a fence. Out of direct sunlight they won't germinate too early and won't overheat like they will in full sun.
We always used to grow Cherokee Purples in our trucker patch when I was growing up. They always produced so much and were overall just great plants to grow.
Oh my...ground cherries (I learned about them as Cape Gooseberries). Mine are growing in the greenhouse. I can't wait to get some fruit from them!! So good.
I planted my jalapeños last year and it was such a success. Those same jalapeño plants have now started to produce peppers again this season. I am ecstatic about this as a beginner gardener, on my 3rd garden 🪴 wooo hoo 😅
I've grown ground cherries for the last two years and here's what I've learned. I live in borderline zone 8a, with a really bad winter once a decade (typical of zone 7a to 7b) but otherwise comparable to zone 8a. When I start them indoors in March as I do tomatoes, they quickly get very large. I find them to be even faster growers than tomatoes. They've self sown from seed that has survived the winters here now. They then start germinating around late May and bear fruit maybe two to four weeks later than ones grown indoors for two months. So my takeaway so far is that you can probably get away with starting them way later, since they grow very vigorously once planted out but take more time to acclimate the longer I had them in pots before I finally planted them out. Cheers, maybe this is helpful to some :)
You’re totally right! They can be started much later if you want to, or even let the inevitable volunteers grow at their own pace, but if you’re like me and want ground cherries ASAP, you can start them early and be snacking on them much earlier 🥰
@@meggrowsplants Perhaps your thumb is also just a lot greener than mine ;) I assume when you can avoid a large transplant shock you really are weeks ahead when you start them early.
Thanks from Deland Florida…zone 9b. Great clips of all the amazing veggies I can start right now. My seed order is ready to go out now. Thanks again for these tips❤
Kevin, I love your new format! Really, really love it! I thought I would only connect with Jacques, since I know him so well from all your previous videos, but all the ladies did a fantastic job presenting, too. I learned so much from this video that I want to implement. It’s also got to be good for botanical interests sales.😊 I hope you will do more videos like this. I have one question… Where does one get seeds for that beautiful Thai basil that I always see growing in your garden? God bless! 🪴🌻🌻
I live in Bangladesh where it’s like mostly summer 10 months out of the year. And it is actually possible to grow cilantro all year round. You just have to put in a place where the direct sunlight from 1-3 pm doesn’t hit or plant it with other plants that can shade it !
