Vegetables

Well, eat your vegetables. It is something many of us have heard. Well, it's good advice and depending on where you live many of them can be grown in your own backyard. What happens if you can't or don't eat all your vegetables? Some, you can give to your dog or you can simply throw them in your compost pile. In areas of the country with mild winters, such as Southern Texas, you can with a little protection (sheets or shade cloth) on extremely cold nights vegetables can be planted and grown year round, with the possible exception of summer.

Some vegetables you may consider planting are:

Asparagus

Beets

Beans-Black

Beans-Lima

Beans-Navy

Beans-Pinto

Beans-Red

Beets

Broccoli

Cabbage

Carrots

Cauliflower

Collards

Corn

Cucumber

Eggplant

Garlic

Kale

Kohlrabi

Leeks

Lettuce-Black Seeded Simpson

Lettuce-Butternut Crunch

Lettuce-Iceberg

Mustard

Okra

Onion

Peppers-Green Bell

Peppers-Red Bell

Peppers-Jalapeno

Peppers-Serrano

Peas-Alaska

Peas-Black Eyed

Peas-Cream

Peas-Sweet

Radish

Spinach

Squash-Summer

Squash-Winter

Tomato Big Boy

Tomato-Brandywine

Tomato-Cherry and Grape

Tomato-Early Girl

Tomato-Roma

Turnips

Zuchinni

This list is by no means complete, it's basically what I could remember from memory or on a seed packet in my possession. Most vegetables have several varieties, some of which I do not know. Some people consider the tomato a fruit.

Vegetables should be planted in well-drained soil. You can also do companion planting. Companion planting is planting one plant with another as a companion. According to John Dromgoole, Host of the gardening show on radio station 590 AM in Austin, Texas and owner of the Natural Gardener Nursery also in Austin Strawberries and Spinach are companion plants.

Obviously Strawberries are fruits and not vegetables, but Spinach is most certainly a vegetable. By the way, here in South Central Texas October is the time to plant Strawberries. Here, summer is usually the worst time to plant any kind of edible garden, including most vegetable gardens. Some vegetables such as Okra and hot peppers sometimes do well in the summer. This past summer the Okra did well, the hot peppers and bell peppers did not in the church garden where I attend church. In fact the Okra was about the only thing that did well in the summer this year here and we're still cutting Okra twice a week.

Hope you find this helpful