“Seed to Table’s” Luay Ghafari designates the difficulty level of growing carrots as intermediate. Pictured are carrots the author grew in her raised beds. The deformed carrot roots are due to heavy, clay soil that should be amended with lots of compost and coconut coir or vermiculite as carrots grow best in a sandy loam.

“There is peace in growing a garden. There is a sense of optimism and wonder, a connection with nature that centers us and makes us appreciate the world around us.” 

— Luay Ghafari, “Seed to Table: A Seasonal Guide to Organically Growing, Cooking, and Preserving Food at Home,” 2023

Happy New Year, gardeners! I’m beginning 2024 with “Seed to Table,” a beautiful hardback book that embodies much of what I hope for all of us in the coming year: peace, optimism, and a deep sense of connection to nature. Author and photographer Luay Ghafari, a Canadian gardening and cooking blogger (www.urbanfarmandkitchen.com), takes readers through the process of organically growing, harvesting, preparing, and preserving seasonal vegetables from our home garden.

For Ghafari, it all comes down to taste — there simply is no comparison to the flavor of seasonal fruits and vegetables harvested at their peak ripeness. Developing a passion for eating food that’s in season is what a garden-to-table lifestyle is all about, as well as nurturing self-sufficiency and a sense of wellbeing by working with the soil and plants.

While thinking about what to grow in our garden, Ghafari urges us to consider several points, beginning with the end game of consumption: Is it something we really like to eat? Can it be used in a variety of dishes? Can it be preserved for later use? Of course, we also need to consider whether it will thrive in the conditions of our garden and how much space it will need to grow successfully. He recommends that gardeners focus on growing high-value crops, such as heirloom varieties, that are not commonly available in grocery stores.

In the first part of the book, Ghafari provides crop guides organized by season. Cool-weather crops include radish, lettuce, carrots, arugula, Brassicas (cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, Brussels sprouts, kohlrabi, collards), Swiss chard, Asian greens (mustard, bok choy, mizuna, tatsoi), peas, alliums (onions, shallots, leeks, scallions), spinach and potatoes.

Warm-weather crops include tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, beans, cucumbers, squashes, tomatillos and herbs (rosemary, sage, thyme, oregano, lavender, dill).

For each crop, Ghafari offers useful information based on his gardening and cooking experience. For example, he writes that carrots derive their flavor from a balance of sugars and terpenoids. Young carrots develop terpenoids before their sugars, which is why they can taste bitter or soapy if harvested too early.

Ghafari explains the growth pattern of each crop, and he assigns a level of growing difficulty (intermediate for carrots) and suitability for small garden spaces or pots (he recommends growing a stubby carrot variety called Paris Market in containers). Common pest issues are listed, as well as tips for growing success. For instance, he says excess nitrogen in the soil will cause carrots to focus on producing bushier tops and less developed roots.

Ghafari advises gardeners about how to maintain healthy plants, when and how to harvest, storage tips, and his favorite varieties. (Besides Paris Market carrots, he recommends growing Deep Purple and Napoli hybrids.)

There are tantalizing photographs of each crop, along with references to recipes using that crop that appear later in the book. For example, a recipe for Sweet and Sour Roasted Carrots appears on page 186 with a mouth-watering picture that renews my enthusiasm for growing carrots in my garden. On page 205, there are instructions for pickling carrots, onions, jalapeno peppers, garlic and coriander seeds for escabeche.

I love the all-inclusiveness of “Seed to Table,” an approach that is surprisingly rare among gardening books. Ghafari even includes QR codes throughout the book that link to related blog posts. He provides almost everything a gardener needs to adopt or continue a garden-to-table lifestyle.

Other than discussing USDA hardiness zones (Medford is Zone 8a/b) and the importance of microclimates, Ghafari doesn’t attempt to advise gardeners on exactly when to sow particular crops. Instead he says, “Understanding your specific conditions from year to year will give you the best insights, preparing you for the planning process.”

This is good advice, particularly because our local average temperatures have been on a warming trend for several years (for example, average temperatures in January have been in the low 40s since 2018). I think it’s essential that today’s gardeners develop a pioneering attitude about adapting our sowing and harvesting schedules in the face of warmer, more erratic, weather.

Milder average winter temperatures mean I can start sowing several cool-weather crops in my raised vegetable beds this month, making sure to have protective row cover handy for extended freezes. It’s the soil temperature that really matters, though, dictated by the amount of sunlight that reaches the beds.

According to tests conducted by the OSU Extension Center, carrots, beets, lettuce, onions, parsnips, peas, radishes, and spinach are all cool-weather crops that have good seed germination when soil temperatures are at least 40 degrees F.

I can also start several cool-weather crops indoors this month to be transplanted into the garden in February; these include Brassicas, Swiss chard, Asian greens, cilantro and turnips. Because cool-weather crops tend to bolt during the warmer springs in our area, selecting early varieties whenever possible is a sound growing strategy.

Welcome to a brand-new year of gardening, harvesting, cooking and preserving — let’s get started!