Low Desert Kitchen Garden Tips | February 2024

It’s time to plant warm season vegetables, herbs, and flowers

In your low desert kitchen garden (zone 9 for Phoenix and the surrounding areas), the time has come to plant warm season vegetables, herbs, and flowers! Compared to other regions, gardening in Arizona has unique considerations to take into account. For instance, it’s possible to overwinter tomatoes by ensuring they are protected from frost. Similarly, with proper protection, eggplants and peppers can also endure through the winter months. Here in Phoenix, these vegetables thrive like perennials, which is a boon for us gardeners! Perennials are plants that can endure for up to three years, with some lasting even longer.

Vegetables to plant in your kitchen garden

This month presents an abundance of vegetable options to enrich your garden. Following the passing of the last frost threat, greens and root crops such as beets, carrots, radishes, turnips, green onions, arugula, leaf lettuce, chard, and spinach can be sown directly into your garden from seed. It’s advisable to refer to seed packages for planting instructions and maturity timelines.

If you sprouted tomato seeds indoors in early January, it’s teh right time to transplant them into your garden when they have developed 4 to 6 true leaves. Remember to harden off your tomato plants. This process helps the plants adjust to outdoor conditions, ensuring a successful transition and healthy growth. Additionally, begin broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, head lettuce, and artichokes from transplants to ensure they have ample time to mature before the onset of spring heat.

Hardening off plants is the process of gradually acclimating indoor-grown or greenhouse-grown plants to outdoor conditions before transplanting them into the garden. This is important because plants that have been sheltered indoors need time to adjust to the harsher outdoor environment, including fluctuations in temperature, wind, and direct sunlight.

Culinary Herbs & Edible Flowers

Add zest to your salads with fresh herbs and edible flowers! Plant seeds of annual cilantro, parsley, chives, borage, nasturtium, calendula, and dill directly into garden soil or containers.

Kitchen Garden Transplants

February in Phoenix is the perfect time to move your perennial oregano, mint, catnip, lemon balm, lemongrass, and thyme to your kitchen garden. These herbs are extra special because they’ll stick around in your garden for years – often at least three!