Grow Your Own Thanksgiving
How better to celebrate Thanksgiving than with fresh food that you have grown yourself?
In early fall, as gardeners in cold-winter areas throughout the United States are bringing in last harvests and winding down before winter, a special planting window opens in Southern California and other Mediterranean-climate California areas. From late summer onward in coastal and coastal-influence areas, and from mid-September or October after weather cools through November in hot inland areas, is an ideal time to plant cool season vegetables, with harvest just in time for Thanksgiving.
Weather can be unpredictable during the fall growing season. Careful selection of varieties is critical. Timing for planting is important, and success may require skill, experience, and daily attention. The potential rewards are many, including garden-fresh, homegrown food throughout fall and into winter or spring.
Leafy greens, fresh tomatoes, and baby root vegetables are all possibilities for Thanksgiving harvest throughout Southern California. For skilled gardeners or those willing to take at least some degree of risk with possible heat waves and cold snaps, many other vegetables and herbs can be grown to harvest from September through November, including green beans, zucchini, and short-season summer squash.
Fresh leafy greens in salad
To help you grow your own Thanksgiving, the GardenZeus #growyourownthanksgiving charts recommend vegetables and varieties by GardenZeus zone, including timing instructions and difficulty ratings. Recommended varieties mature quickly and can be grown to harvest in the short season from September or October to late November. Most recommended vegetables are easy to grow from seed.
Plants marked “Easy” are the easiest to grow with the least amount of work starting early fall in your local climate. Plants with “Medium” difficulty may be more susceptible to fluctuations in weather and/or require more work. “Hard/Risky” may be quite sensitive to weather variables, such as heat waves and cold snaps, or require careful attention. If your attention and time for fall gardening are limited, GardenZeus recommends growing plants in the “Easy” category and perhaps one “Medium” vegetable.
To see our vegetable recommendations for your local climate, choose the #growyourownthanksgiving chart for your GardenZeus climate zone. Don’t know your GardenZeus climate zone? Enter your zipcode at GardenZeus.com.
Grow Your Own Thanksgiving in GardenZeus Zone 12
Grow Your Own Thanksgiving in GardenZeus Zone 13