this post was submitted on 06 Mar 2024
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Nature and Gardening
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Good options for vegetables or herbs to start from seed in zone 7a? I've only had success with marigolds and thai basil from seed, and I'm working on a more limited budget this year, so I'm trying to do more seeds rather than starter plants. Also considering trying peas this year.
Peas and beans should be great for you, and they're also some of the easiest plants to get started saving seeds for future seasons. They can make your garden beautiful to look at too - dragon langerie is a variety we grew last year and it's stunning.
Warm season crops like peppers or tomatoes, squash family plants like cucumbers and melons might be good for you too. 7a has (to me, a zone 5 gardener) sort of a Goldilocks season where you get generally good temps and a long growing season, without having the sort of heat that just kills things like in zones 9 and 10.
Peas and beans! Great recommendation. Did a little looking and they can grow in five gallon buckets, which should be perfect. Wish I could do more viney plants like melons but my space is extremely tight. I'm going to start my lettuce and carrots earlier this year so they have a chance to do something before it gets real hot out. Temps here are generally pretty nice, though I did lose an entire batch of black swallowtail caterpillars to the heat two years ago. Those little buggers can't take much above 85F.
Beans for sure. When it is a wet year I pickled beans because I had so many that I couldn't use lol.
I have never once had peas work in 3 years of trying. Here in Belgium we had a year with sun, year with not much and a lot of rain, then a year of half full sun and half full rain.
The peas have never made it more than 8cm tall and refused to grab onto nets, string, bamboo, anything u put near them.
Moved to a new house and might try again though.