Zone 10 - What to Plant in December

Zone 10 - What to Plant in December

Zone 10 gardeners should be planting their gardens in December. With no risk of frost but the dog days of summer behind us, this is the perfect time to plant. See the vegetables below that are perfect for planting now.

The Young's Beauty Pumpkin is a very uniform New England Pie variety that is the perfect small pumpkin for Halloween carvings! At only 10-12 pounds, this jack-o-lantern sized pumpkin will look great in a family garden. This deep orange, slightly ribbed variety produces high yields.

The Best Tasting Collection has the most popular and best tasting home garden tomatoes we have! These six varieties have been chosen by the people at Urban Farmer as the tastiest tomatoes for home gardens. We have grown all of these varieties and several others and these had the best taste and juiciest flesh we could find. Enjoy! Golden Jubilee - Meaty, thick, golden-orange walls that have an excellent flavor. Cherokee Purple - Plump, juicy, purple tomatoes that are probably the best tasting of all tomatoes. Brandywine - Looking for a nice beefsteak tomato that can be sliced for sandwiches, burgers and more! SunSugar - A golden cherry variety that is just mouth watering. A high sugar content makes you coming back for more. Black Krim - A dark purple-black skin and flesh that holds a juicy, mouth watering flavor. Roma - Roma is a very popular and flavorful Italian tomato. It is an old fashion heirloom that makes great salsa and tomato paste.

The Marconi Red Pepper is an Italian sweet pepper. This pepper variety is a very sweet thin-skinned pepper that changes from green to red with maturity and has 3-5 lobes.

The White Albino beet plants produce good yields of very sweet white beets. The beets are white and will never stain again! This gourmet beet is ideal for boiling, pickling, baking, and freezing.

Red Acre cabbage is simply the best early maturing red cabbage! Red Acre is a fantastic cabbage that produces reddish-purple heads. Each cabbage head grows to 7 inches in diameter and weighs about 3 pounds. Red Acre is resistant to cabbage yellowing and is great for home gardens that have little space. Red Acre cabbage stores better than just about any other early cabbage variety. Great raw or for coleslaw use.

The Petite Mix Bell is a blend of our favorite mini bell peppers that are a sweet flavor explosion! These tiny peppers ripens to a rich yellow, red and purple colors when mature. The Petite Mix Bell blend is high yielding and produces 2-3 ounce peppers that make the perfect snack sized pepper. This mix is excellent for market selling or home growing for adding into salads!

The Bolivian Rainbow Pepper is a beautiful rainbow variety of chili peppers that will a pop of color to any garden or dish. The small naturally bushy plant produces hundreds of small, teardrop shaped, hot chillies that start life creamy, turn purple, then golden, then orange and finally fire-engine red! These peppers produces early and continuously throughout the season.

The Golden Helios Radish is named after the Greek god of the sun. This olive-shaped radish is bright yellow with a crispy white flesh and is truly one of the most beautiful radish! Not only is Helios a beauty, it is also tasty with a sweet and mild flavor.

Shishito peppers are a popular menu item that appear in many Asian dishes. These plants produce a large amount of peppers over a growing season. The plants are compact, bushy plants that produce 4" wrinkled peppers that turn red when overly mature. When eaten in the early stages of maturity the fruits are green and offer a crunchy bite. A mild to moderately hot pepper that also has a sweet and tangy flavor. Perfect for frying.

These tiny ornamental pumpkins are great for market sellers but also has excellent edible qualities. Bumpkin F1 has a semi bush plant habit with excellent yield potential. Fruit are 2" x 3" and weight about 1/4 lb. with dark orange color and strong dark green handles. An excellent pumpkin for novelty sales.

The China Rose Radish is a tasty rose colored radish with peppery undertones. This long radish variety with 5 inch long roots is one of the oldest heirloom radishes around. The China Rose is a very hardy type that can be grown year round.

The Super Chili is an AAS Pepper Variety Winner! A real super chili pepper, bred for compact, 15" inch plants cover with fruits. These hot peppers can reach upwards of 37,500 Scovilles. Great for spicy cuisine like Thai or Asian dishes.

Blue Vantage produces dense and large heads with short cores. A mid-season maturity that is ideal for fresh eating or coleslaw. Great resistance to Fusarium yellows race 1 resistant and tipburn tolerant.

Hungarian Hot Wax peppers are a popular medium-heat chili variety known for their distinctive yellow color and elongated, tapering shape, typically growing about 6-8 inches long. As they mature, these peppers transition from a vibrant yellow to a bright red, adding a visual appeal to any dish. With a Scoville heat rating of 5,000 to 15,000, Hungarian Hot Wax peppers provide a nice kick without overwhelming heat, making them versatile for various culinary uses. Originating from Hungary, these peppers are often used in traditional dishes, pickled for a zesty snack, or incorporated into sauces and salsas. Their crisp texture and sweet, tangy flavor enhance both fresh and cooked preparations. Harvesting usually occurs when the peppers are bright yellow, around 70-80 days after planting, but they can also be left on the plant to ripen to red for a slightly sweeter taste. Hungarian Hot Wax peppers thrive in warm climates and well-drained soil, making them a favorite among home gardeners. Their unique flavor profile and moderate heat level make them a delightful addition to a wide range of dishes, from stir-fries to salads.

The Orange Oxheart Tomato is an oxheart variety that has vigorous vines that produce plenty of beautiful, orange tomatoes. These tomatoes have a sweet and juicy flavor that will have you growing them for years and years to come! The Orange Oxheart weighs around 16-32 ounces and is just perfect looking!

The Carbon Tomato won the “Best Tasting Tomato Award” at the Heirloom Garden Show in 2005 and continues to rate very high in many taste tests! This tomato is one of the darkest of the “black tomato” varieties, and 10-12 oz. in size with a flattened round shape. This purplish-brown, "black" colored tomato has a deep brick red flesh and has a deliciously rich, sweet flavor. The fruit is medium to large, with a slightly flattened shape and a smooth, glossy skin. Carbon tomatoes are celebrated for their robust flavor profile, which blends sweet, tangy, and smoky notes, making them a versatile choice for fresh salads, sauces, and salsas. The plants are indeterminate, meaning they continue to grow and produce fruit throughout the growing season, typically reaching heights of 5 to 7 feet. They exhibit a vigorous growth habit and produce a steady yield of tomatoes from mid-summer to fall. Harvesting is usually done when the tomatoes have fully ripened and developed their deep color. With their rich flavor, striking color, and reliable productivity, Carbon tomatoes are a favorite among gardeners and culinary aficionados alike. 

Mortgage Lifter tomatoes are a legendary heirloom variety with a rich history and exceptional qualities. Originating from the 1930s, this tomato was famously developed by M.C. "Radiator Charlie" Byles, a farmer who sold the plants to pay off his mortgage, hence the name. These large, beefsteak-style tomatoes are known for their deep pink to reddish color and meaty texture, with fruits often reaching up to a pound or more. The flavor is renowned for its sweet, rich taste with a balanced acidity, making it ideal for slicing, sandwiches, and sauces. Mortgage Lifter tomatoes typically take about 80 to 85 days to mature and feature an indeterminate growth habit, meaning they continue to produce fruit throughout the growing season. The plants are vigorous and sprawling, requiring staking or caging to support the heavy, abundant fruit. Their historical significance, combined with their impressive size, flavor, and productivity, makes Mortgage Lifter tomatoes a prized addition to any garden.

The Chef's Choice Orange is an All American Selection winner that is a prolific producer of juicy, bright orange tomatoes. The bright neon orange color of this unique variety spreads throughout the entirety of the tomato. The Chef's Choice Orange is not only popular for its unusual coloring, but also for having a wonderful flavor.