It’s springtime in Arizona, and that means it’s time to start preparing for your spring garden, if you haven’t already.  Now that the threat of frost has passed, it’s a great time to get started.  Ideal veggies to plant now include cucumber, green beans, cantaloupe, watermelon, pumpkin, eggplant, squash, corn, tomatoes, and peppers.  We put these plants in our garden and anticipate they’ll turn out as well as they did last year.  Now is the time to also plant any tomato or pepper plants (either store bought or started from seed a couple months earlier).  You can find these plants at any home improvement store that has a garden section.

We are also in the process of harvesting some of our fall/winter veggies.  Unfortunately, some of the plants did not survive the harsh winter this year.  Compared to last year, more nights fell below freezing which made it too cold for the peas, carrots, and cabbage we planted.  We had a few plants that did survive, but our crop was significantly smaller than last year.  Our leafy greens grew fine through the cold, however, and we have been harvesting spinach and lettuce in recent weeks.

As it continues to grow warmer, keep in mind that the threat of pests has also returned.  We have noticed that the aphids have found their way back into our garden already.  Please keep an eye on your plants for these pests and see our pest post about how to control them.