Gardening Around The Country: Dreaming of Land and Avacados

Another snowy morning commute and a top speed of 20 miles per hour on 95, has me dreaming once again of the Spring. The Winter brings snow delays and the Spring brings sunshine delays on the highways. I am so ready for a sunshine delay. Bring on the sun and the cool weather garden! I have written several blog entries myself on cool weather gardening but I wanted to bring in another article I found, notice the raised bed and cool weather plants. The key to cool weather gardening is starting early and replanting late. In Maryland you can start in March and go into November with a bit of luck and preparation.

Maryland has a great gardening season and as much as I am ready for Spring, I do like experiencing the four seasons. Gardening throughout the U.S. varies greatly from a short season in Alaska to gardening year around in southern California. The cold weather isn't enough to drive me to the west coast (yet) but I do keep track of land and housing prices around the country.  Mission Beach real estate, in the San Diego area, shows some absolutely beautiful communities and the area is showing signs of an upswing. Inventories are dropping and activity is returning to what was once one of the most "pricey areas" in the U.S. If I can't plant now, I can dream of luxury and warm weather. Why not dream of the San Diego area?

There are standard crops that we can grow all over the U.S and then there are only things that can grow in specific zones. I would love to be able to grow avocado trees. I can't. I need the zone of southern California, hence my dream. I try to grow broccoli and cauliflower in Maryland but it has bolted 3 years in a row now. I think I need a longer cool season. The best thing about gardening is you can do it anywhere, be it in the ground, in containers on a deck, or on your windowsill. Now if this snow would just go away, I could quit dreaming and get digging. Four more weeks and the peas go in the ground!