Veggie Seasons
Written By: Emma Williamson, October 27, 2023
Downtown Sanger Farmers Market
Everyone has a dream of growing a beautiful backyard garden. Some beginner gardeners may not be aware that the veggies you find at the grocery store are not always in season. We are here to let you know when certain veggies are in season, the reason they are grouped into certain seasons, and how grocery stores have veggies that aren’t normally in season! After learning about veggies and their seasons find the google form, by clicking the link to answer a few questions about vegetables!
When you go to the grocery store with the intention of starting a garden, you instinctively go towards the aisle with veggie seeds. However, not all of those little seed packets will grow a veggie because of our current season. You may be wondering “Why do they go into season?” Temperature has one of the biggest impacts on vegetable seasons. Because of the way our seasons work and temperatures vary, vegetables tend to grow better in their “personal seasons,” meaning they grow better at different times of the year.
Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall all come with their own temperature ranges which correlates with the veggies that grow in that time span. Starting with winter ranging from December to February, most of the time the cold bitter months are not very good for the growing of plants. Things like winter squash, onions, potatoes, herbs, and turnips are the most popular. Many farmers and gardeners use hoop houses in the winter. These houses are inexpensive greenhouses, they help keep the plants away from the freezing temperatures. In the spring, March-April even to June, vegetables like asparagus, lettuce, broccoli, and onions are in season during this time period.
In the summer it can be brutally hot and just hard for plants to grow. The veggies that do the best during the summer months are summer squash, collard greens, onions, zucchini, and lots of beans. The summer is the prime time for droughts, it is crucial to make sure your plants are able to make it through the summer. Summer veggies require as the temperature rises add two more inches of water. You may want to water only one day out of the week a large sum of water instead of daily. A shading cloth may be useful in the summer due to the veggies needing 30 to 50 percent of shade. September to November is the fall season, it is sometimes one of the prime times to grow! Popular things to grow are brussel sprouts, carrots, pumpkins, corn, and cabbage, and garlic. When you begin prepping your garden for the fall you may think about spading/tilling your garden seeing as this helps with the freezing and thawing of the soil in the frosty winters. If you are looking for more veggies, check out this link.
To our final point, “how do grocery stores always have the veggies that I need even if they aren’t in season?” Well, it is actually very common to ship/import vegetables internationally. America has many trade agreements with other countries to import fresh vegetables that are in season in other countries to America where they aren’t always in season! Even though this is for a fruit - the avocado - the NAFTA agreementis a clear example of trades for countries to import their stock. America was smart when thinking about vegetables and importing them so we have a year round variety of veggies in the grocery store! To wrap up this blog, take a look at this google form.