Zone 9 - What to Plant in December

Zone 9 - What to Plant in December

Now is when the main planting is happening in zone 9. The hot and humid days of summer are behind us and we can start growing the garden. With a last frost date in early February you should start growing your tomatoes, peppers and other plants indoors so they are ready to transplant in February.

The Italian Heirloom Tomato is an old heirloom that is one of our most tasty tomatoes we offer, as it is just bursting with flavor! These bright red tomatoes can grow to over 1 pound per fruit! This productive variety will give you a continual harvest of these delicious fruits into fall. The Italian Heirloom is an excellent variety for cooking, eating fresh or canning.

We believe this is the best tasting tomato available and even beats Brandywine for flavor. Productive plants produce large crops of 12 oz. fruits. Excellent tomato flavor. This strain was obtained from J. D. Green in Tennessee and is thought to be from the Cherokee Nation. Plants are indeterminate, but seldom grow more than 4' tall.

The Pink Summercicle Radish will bring you an endless summer with its bright pink color, sweet taste and popsicle-like shape! These 5-6 inches long roots have a crisp white inside with an extra sweet flavor. This very adaptable variety is best when grown in the early spring or fall. Enjoy the Pink Summercicle in salads or stir-fries!

'Yellow Wonder' is a very productive variety. It is a clumping type (few to no runners) that is day neutral which means that flowering is not dependent on day length. The fruit is a pale yellow at full ripe and soft. This variety is sweeter than the red alpine strawberry varieties. There is a strong wild aroma as well.

The Cipollini Yellow is an unique coin shaped yellow onion. This variety can be grown and perform well in most US latitudes. Cipollini Yellow has good pungency, but is still sweet. This onion is larger and flatter than most pearl onions, making it a great choice for any cooking or braising use. Cipollini Yellow is also excellent when used in crafts like braiding and has excellent storage ability for a small onion.

The Rio Grande Tomato produces a huge harvest of popular pear shaped, paste type of tomatoes that will thrive in hot climates! This tomato variety produces large, deep red 4 inch long blocky tomatoes that are favored for its versatility. The Rio Grande is a great tomato for sauce or juice.

Orange King is a deliciously sweet and tangy orange pepper. This blocky, thick skinned pepper turns from green to a bright orange when mature. Its plants produce average yields of 4-5 lobed block peppers that mature to 4x6." This pepper variety is the sweetest bell pepper we have tasted to date! Orange King is perfect for fresh eating, dips, salads, stuffing, stir fries and sandwiches.

The Spring Pea is the sweetest pea pod you can grow in the garden! This variety is a very early maturing medium sized pea plant that produces super sweet peas. Spring bears large crops of pods that hold 6 to 7 plump peas that are delicious in soups and stews.

The Ghost Mix is a blend of some of the world's hottest peppers! Use with caution! This mix is a wonderful blend of red, yellow, purple, white and chocolate Bhut Jolokia (Ghost) pepper seeds that can reach over 1,000,000 Scoville Heat Units (SHU).

Cascadia Pea is a major garden staple for its heavy yields of great tasting and crispy pea pods. Enjoy bucketloads of large, crisp pods with small, sugary peas! The 3' tall vines should be supported on a trellis or fence. Cascadia's multiple disease resistances allow for spring and late season plantings.

SPRING SHIPPING - The Snowball White Onion is our most popular onion set! This variety is always crisp and delicious! The Snowball White's big bulbs have a lovely golden yellow papery skin on the outside with a pale yellow flesh with a mild flavor that is great for cooking.

The Corno Di Toro Mix Pepper is an old-time Italian sweet frying pepper! This pepper is nicknamed the "bull's horn" for its distinctive horn shape. This pepper variety plant bears 8" fruits mature to red (Rosso) and yellow (Giallo). The Corno Di Toro Mix is a combination of Corno Di Toro Giallo and Corno Di Toro Rosso. The Corno Di Toro Mix is a great cooking pepper variety!

The White Flat Boer Ford is a true white pumpkin that is perfect for autumn displays! This variety grows to be 3 to 5 inches high and spreads 8 to 12 inches wide. This flat pumpkin can weigh between 10 to 15 pounds! The White Flat Boer Ford has deep ribs that makes for an appealing autumn display, but it also has a delicious eating quality for its aromatic, succulent, and sugary flesh.

The Black Nebula carrot is a highly attractive open pollinated carrot variety that was bred especially for the home gardener. The dark purple roots can be eaten fresh, roasted, steamed or used for dye. After the carrots grow too large to eat leave them in the garden and use for cut flowers. The white umbels are tinged with lavender on the edges and flower stems. Bees love carrot flowers so they make great food for pollinators.

Sugar beets are the perfect natural choice to make sugar! You can boil the sugar beets in order to make a sugary syrup. These beets can grow up to 1 foot long and can weigh from 3-5 pounds. That means you need to thin them to make sure they have enough room to grow. Tops can grow 1-2' tall. Beet tops can be eaten, lightly grazed or fed to animals.

The Aunt Ginnys Purple Tomato is a highly productive, beautiful oxheart shaped, heirloom with German origins that has a delicious flavor. This tomato variety produces large, indeterminate, potato-leaf tomato plants with high yields. This tomato can reach to be 1 pound with a deep pink-purple flesh that is crack resistant. The Aunt Ginnys Purple Tomato is one of our favorite heirloom tomatoes.

An early cabbage with a blue-green color. Produces beautiful globe-shaped heads that have a blueish color. Very good holding ability. 3-5 lb. heads produced on low, compact plants. First introduced by Harris Moran.

Black Spanish Round Radish is a unique black old heirloom that has a nutty and slightly spicy flavor! This black beauty radish is making a comeback! Its firm flesh holds up well in meals. The Black Spanish Round is best grown from late winter to early spring and is a healthy spring vegetable.