Photo by Gary Barnes: https://www.pexels.com/photo/woman-mixing-soil-in-peat-pot-for-planting-flowers-6231712/

If you tried your hand at growing your own vegetables during the past two years, you aren’t alone. Many of my clients are now asking for all-weather gardens, space for mini-grow houses for seedlings and natural wildlife gardens in their landscape designs. Right alongside of naturalistic planting, mini meadows and planting for bees, the trend to home gardening is not slowing down.

Home gardening has taken off since the pandemic saw working from home, strong home sales and sustained interest in gardening to insure access to healthy food. According to a survey by nationwide supplier, more than 20 million Americans took up gardening for the first time in 2020 and the trend is continuing. Many are giving Millennials the credit demographically for the biggest bump in recent gardening history!

Here in California, with our warm summer Mediterranean climate, we can grow many different types of vegetables crops throughout the year. Warm season or cool season crops allow us to plant at the right time of the year for optimum yield. The Farmer’s Almanac tells us the last frost should occur the end of March.

So, what are the easiest and quick growing vegetables to grow yourself for a Spring Garden?

Here are some favorites that will produce in 2 to 3 weeks:

Peas.
Radish
Carrots
Green Onions
Baby Kale
Baby Bok Choy
Swiss Chard. ...
Beets

Imagine a flower bed with beets as edging – we installed one recently for a client. Not only did it look great, but beets are also rich in folate (vitamin B9) which helps cells grow and function. It was easy to harvest the beets and pick the flowers!

Photo by João Jesus: https://www.pexels.com/photo/photo-of-man-standing-surrounded-by-green-leaf-plants-1084540/

What about Mini- Greenhouses?
Mini greenhouses can be tall or short, but generally take up less than about 10 square feet (3 m.) of ground or floor space. I’m seeing more of these in our client’s landscape designs. Many of my clients use mini greenhouses in place of cold frames to start seedlings earlier.

Designing Mini- Meadows: Simple and Easy

You can grow a mini meadow in as little as 50 square feet and less than $20, says American Meadows owner Mike Lizotte, aka "The Seed Man." A traditional meadow is a field covered in grasses and wildflowers, a mini meadow wedges a variety of pollinator-attracting native and wildflowers into a small space. We’ve included mini meadows in designs from few thousand square feet to gorgeous terra cotta pots! .

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Gardening Takes Root in Sonoma County Landscapes