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.

Get a head start with the early maturing Early Jalapeno Pepper. This pepper variety continuously produces a dark green, thick skin that forms to the shape of a cone. Enjoy the Early Jalapeno fresh or pickled on salads, dips or tacos!

The Red Pear Tomato is an old time favorite heirloom that always pleases everybody! This variety is a bright red, pear-shaped tomato with a history dating back to Colonial times. The Red Pear's plants are very prolific and are producers of 1-2" long tomatoes that are great on salads, sauces or roasted in the oven.

Avalon is a very sturdy, yet flexible, late intermediate Spanish onion. This variety allows a smooth transition from intermediate to long day varieties. Growers enjoy the easy growth, the size potential, single centers, and the nice firm bulb that it produces. The grower also has the option of mechanical harvesting with Avalon.

Little SnowPea White produces dwarf-sized vines with beautiful purple flowers. This pea plant is tiny yet productive and does well in small gardens or containers. The pods mature early and have a crunchy bite. Plants will reach a maximum height of 24 inches. For pea shoots, matures in 10 days. Expect slender, tight greens with minimal side branching, upright habit, and ease of harvest and stack.

One of our favorite peppers! If you like sweet peppers with a slight spicy kick, then the Cajun Belle is for you! This variety is a great small bell pepper that is an All American Selection winner. Cajun Belle matures early and is a very heavy yielder that bears 2 by 3 inch, 3-4 lobed fruit. This pepper's flavor really sets it apart from the pack with a sweet start that ends in a burst of spice that's not too hot. We found this charmer to be superb for both fresh eating and making salsa at either the green stage, or when ripened to red!

The Indigo Clackamas Blueberry Tomato has an amazing juicy, sweet flavor and resembles a large blueberry! This salad-size tomato has a dark red to dark blue flesh, making it a perfect pop of color to any summer salad! The Indigo Clackamas Blueberry is very productive, making it the perfect variety to add to any home garden.

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!

Roxanne is a hybrid radish with uniform bright red color and a beautiful creamy white interior. Roxanne is a great tasting radish with no pithiness or bleeding even at a larger size. This radish stays firm and solid even when oversized, and holds well in the garden.

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.

The Champion Radish is slow to become pithy. This radish is an excellent cooler weather variety, especially for short season climates. This bright red, crisp, round radish has large tops and is a good choice for early or late plantings. This highly recommended radish is great for eating fresh, in salads or for garnishes.

The Black Plum Tomato is a heavy producer and a favorite plum-shaped tomato variety for making different salsa or sauces. This variety produces 2" long by 1" wide tomatoes that weigh around 1-2 ounces. The Black Plum has a black-purple skin with green-shoulders and a very delicious flavor.

The Cayenne Long Red Slim Pepper is a traditional medium heat cayenne pepper with a great flavor! This variety is a long and thin pepper that produces unbelievably high yields. These peppers will mature red and are wrinkled with a mixture of straight and curly fruits. Cayenne Long Red Slim is excellent for drying, pickling and fresh eating to spice up your chili or salsa. This pepper plant is bushy and reaches 26" tall.

Nothing says "spring" like the crisp taste of a homegrown Easter Egg Radish! This variety is a bright color blend of red, white, rose pink, purple, and bi-color (red top, white bottom) that is perfect for salads and relish trays. At the harvest time, you can have your own "Easter Egg hunt" for the most colorful radish! After the harvest, you can eat them fresh in salads or slice and add them to sandwiches for a bit of crunch and color.

Crunchy Crimson radish is a high yielding root with superior quality and uniformity. These roots have bright red skin with excellent interior quality and are very slow to develop pith. Crunchy Crimson grows well under cool conditions.

The Vitaverde cauliflower, or "broccoflower," is the famous cross of broccoli and cauliflower! The Vitaverde broccoflower grows up to 1 pound. This hybrid has a vibrant green head, is heat tolerant and cooks fast with a mild sweet taste.

Triton F1 is well known for its superb taste and texture. This carrot has strong tops that are erect and dark green in color. Its roots are nine to ten inches long and .5-1 inch in diameter. This carrot is medium-orange and quite cylindrical in shape with a semi-blunt tip.

The Solar Yellow Carrot has a refreshingly sweet flavor that is crisp while still being juicy, making it out of this world! This variety is the perfect choice for juicing, blending into soups or sauces. This golden carrot has 6-7 inches tapered roots.

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.