What I’m Planting In My 2022 Organic Garden

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Another gardening season is right around the corner and I’ve officially finalized all my seed orders for 2022. In this post I’m sharing with you exactly what I’ll be planting this season. I’ve categorized each plant based on skill level and provided some info on where it will be going in my garden/greenhouse. Come follow along if you’re looking for some inspo for your own garden plans!

Skip down to my 2022 organic garden planting list.

One of the wonderful things about growing a garden is that it changes and evolves each year. No two seasons are alike. My goals for my garden are always changing, whether it be to grow more food for winter storage or experiment growing new foods. 

This year, my garden  goals are simple.

1. Only grow foods I will enjoy eating. In past years I’ve  experimented, growing more unusual foods like chickpeas, artichokes, rutabaga. It was fun and I am definitely throwing in a few unusual plants again for the 2022 season. But my focus is on actually growing food I know I love to cook with. It makes my time spent in the garden feel more purposeful.

2. Grow new cut flower varieties. I’d consider myself still fairly new to flower gardening, only adding flowers to my veggie garden over the last 2-3 years. Last year I fell in love with interplanting flowers among my veggie plants. So in 2022 I’m doing it bigger and better. You’ll notice I have a laundry list of annual cut flowers going into the garden. I will definitely be drowning in bouquets…but I really think that can only be a good thing!

About My Zone 3 Garden

I garden in about 2,000 square feet of fenced off garden space. 

The majority of my garden I plant in-ground. Each year I choose a different formation/layout depending on what I’ve planned to grow.

I also have four raised beds in this space, two of which I always plant my garlic patches in. The other two raised beds are rectangular, measuring approx. 3’x10′. 

The one raised bed is kinda like an ever-evolving space. We use it as a cold frame in the Spring and Fall. It has a removable tempered glass shower door that covers the top. We install the glass top around the end of March and let it warm up the soil for a few weeks so I can plant an early sowing of greens. I usually take off the door around the beginning of May and add in more tender annual veggies and flowers.

The other raised bed has some perennial herbs in it — chives, mint, lavender — and then I usually transplant in more long-season veggies, like tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, cucumbers, etc..

We also grow food in a 200 square foot greenhouse that we built in 2021. 

This greenhouse is still new to us, so I’m experimenting with what works best! Last season we dedicated the space to growing primarily tomatoes and cucumbers in grow bags, which worked great.

But this year, we’ll be installing a few raised beds too, so I’m excited to add in more annual flowers as well as some brassicas come late Summer to harvest in early Winter. I imagine the greenhouse will be a space that evolves throughout the season too.

You can see my post How I Plan Out My Zone 3 Veggie Garden for more details on my planning process.

Without further ado — here is everything I’m growing in my organic veggie garden in 2022!

*Disclaimer*

This post may contain affiliate links to products for your convenience. From Soil to Soul gains a small commission from purchases made through those links, at no additional cost to you.

In The Garden

Direct Sown Veggies – Beginner Level

• Yukon Gold Potatoes — Such a rookie-friendly veggie to add to the garden. This particular variety is bred to be disease resistant as well!

• Red & Yellow Onion Sets — Starting onions from sets is the ONLY way I do it. They are way too slow to start from seed.

• Pac Choi — A great Asian-style green to sow early in the Spring and enjoy within just 30-45 days.

• Giant Winter Spinach — A fantastic variety bred for early harvesting in the Spring & Fall. I succession plant this spinach every few weeks throughout most of the season.

• Astro Arugula — Same qualities as growing spinach and a great crop for succession planting so you can enjoy harvests all season long.

• Dillon Iceberg Lettuce — This variety is so tasty! I’ve grown it for the last few years and am amazed at how well it handles summer heat without bolting.

• Sugar Daddy Snap Peas — My go-to pea variety that I grow year after year. So productive all season long. You’ll love this one.

• Dragon Tongue Bush Beans — Just a really fun bean to grow! Its purple streaks are beautiful. Good to eat fresh, cooked or dried! So much to love.

• Scarlet Emperor Pole Beans — My go-to for growing over big trellises or archways. Super productive.

• Rudolf Radishes — One of the first things I plant as soon as the soil can be worked in the Spring. This variety grows in perfectly circular little globes.

• Boro Red Beets — Such a sweet beet variety! I also eat the tops and sauté them into stir-fry and warm salads.

• Touchstone Gold Beets — I grow these because they are beautiful and tasty!

Direct Sown Veggies – Intermediate Level

• Brightest Brilliant Quinoa — This is a new to me veggie this year! Categorized as intermediate as quinoa requires a long growing season before it is ready to harvest, which can be challenging in a Zone 3 climate.
• Ya Ya Carrots — I love this variety of carrot! I consider carrots a more difficult veggie to grow as germinating the seeds can be tricky. Be sure to keep them moist during germination.
• Tender & True Parsnips — This will be my second year trying to grow this root vegetable and let me tell you, it is not an easy one to grow! I had poor germination last season. The seeds are SO fine. But I’m ready to try again.

Annual Veggies – Beginner Level

• Sweet Million Cherry Tomatoes — My forever recommendation when it comes to a cherry tomato. This plant will truly give you hundreds, if not thousands, of tomatoes. So productive!

• Caiman Beefsteak Tomato — Grows well in pretty much any place you grow it, be it the garden, a container, greenhouse, etc…This is THE tomato you can trust.

• Vintage Wine Tomato — This is a new to me tomato variety that I plan to try growing both in the greenhouse and in the garden.

• California Wonder Bell Peppers — My trusted bell pepper variety. Bell peppers can be tricky and often yield in small harvests, but not with this variety. I’ve had luck getting 10-20 peppers off a single plant.

• Spicy Slice Jalapeños — This is a hybrid variety of hot pepper that is bred to be highly productive. Think dozens of peppers off a single plant!

• Silverado Swiss Chard — A compact variety of chard. I like to tuck it in-between other veggies.

• Lacinato Kale — Otherwise known as dinosaur kale. This is a cut and come again green you can harvest nearly all summer long.

• Winter Red Kale — Developed for cold hardiness, this is a good variety to enjoy in the Spring and Fall in Zone 3.

• Allure Corn — I won’t ever grow another variety of corn. Trust me. You get massive yields off each corn stalk.

• Goldy Zucchini — Our go-to yellow zucchini variety. It produces fruits all season long. I love this zucchini!

• Desert Zucchini — And our go-to green zucchini variety.

• Sunburst Patty Pan — A new to me summer squash that many gardeners adore. Can’t wait to try this one.

• Delicata Squash — This will be our second year growing this winter squash. Sometimes I find squash plants don’t produce many fruits, but that wasn’t the case with this one.

• Mashed Potatoes Acorn Squash — Another new to me winter squash! The name was just too intriguing not to try.

• Small Sugar Pumpkin — Growing this pumpkin primarily for eating! Apparently it makes great pies.

Annual Veggies – Intermediate Level

• Aunt Molly’s Ground Cherries —  Fruit grows in a husk like a tomatillo, but has a sweet flavour. I compare the taste to pineapple and vanilla! It requires starting indoors early in February. Seeds can be somewhat difficult to germinate.
• Lennox Cabbage — A winter cabbage that can be harvested at a compact size or as a full head. Cabbage also requires a long growing season and needs to be covered to avoid pest pressure from flea beetles.
• Tiana Butternut Squash — A winter squash that is early to mature. I classify winter squash as intermediate as they can require ongoing attention throughout the season as the vines can get huge and need to be trellised or pruned. Flowers may also require hand pollination.
• Pozzano Roma Tomatoes — A very productive roma variety. However, many growers have troubles with blossom end rot on roma tomatoes, so can be more challenging.
• Goodman White Cauliflower — An easy to harvest variety of cauliflower. Cauliflower, like other brassicas, can give growers in Manitoba challenges as they attract flea beetles. But invest in a row cover and you’re set for success!

• Calabrese Broccoli — Another brassica that can get eaten by pests if you don’t protect it. This variety of broccoli has an incredible, rich flavour though. It’s worth the work.

Perennial Edibles – Beginner Level

• Glaskin’s Perpetual Rhubarb — Can you believe I don’t have rhubarb growing in my garden? Kinda crazy, I know. This will be my first year. I can’t wait to harvest this hardy perennial, which is also said to be very easy to grow.

Perennial Edibles – Intermediate Level

• Guelph Millennium Asparagus — I purchased some crowns to add to my garden this season. I don’t currently have any asparagus growing. This veggie is categorized as intermediate as it requires two years of care before enjoying a harvest. 

Herbs – Beginner Level

• Ella Dill — Maybe the easiest herb out there to grow? Let me know if you think otherwise!

• Santo Cilantro — Cilantro is the very first herb I sow in the Spring. This variety is really cold tolerant too.

• Dolly Basil — A very productive basil variety that I have found does well all season long. You can cut and come again and again and again.

• Chives — My fav perennial herb in the garden. Our chive plant is nearly 5 years old and survives every Manitoba Winter.

Herbs – Intermediate Level

• Lemon Balm — You will love the strong aroma of this herb, so great in tea! Categorized here as intermediate as the seeds do best when started indoors about 8 weeks before your last frost. So just a little bit more to think about.
• Mint — Another great perennial herb that does well over winter in our Zone 3 garden. However, it can be tricky to germinate, so I classify it as an intermediate herb. Try buying started plants from your local greenhouse instead.

Flowers – Beginner Level

• Yarrow — A new to me flower that I can’t wait to add to bouquets. The tight yellow petals have a vintage vibe. 

• Indian Spring Hollyhocks — Another new flower for me. I love the look of hollyhocks and have been wanting to grow for years. So, here goes nothing!

• Sweetness Dianthus — I’ll be direct sowing this hardy flower in the early Spring. I’ve grown dianthus before and love how it is drought tolerant if you forget to water.
• Russell Lupines — Another new to me flower (there’s clearly a theme here) that I can’t wait to grow. This variety offers a mix of colours.
• Sensation Mix Cosmos — If you’re brand new to cut flowers, I say this is the variety to start with. Cosmos are easy to grow whether you direct sow outside or start indoors under grow lights.
• Shirley Double Mix Poppies — Poppies are one of the first flowers I plant in the Spring. Very cold tolerant and can resist frost.
• Russian Mammoth Sunflowers — My fav giant sunflower variety. It towers over the garden. Last year we had flowers that we 12’ tall!
• Sunrich Lemon Sunflowers — A great variety of sunflower for cutting and adding to bouquets.
• Brocade Marigolds — Marigolds get interplanted throughout my entire garden. They are so great at repelling pests, especially for tomato plants.

Flowers – Intermediate Level

• King Size Apricot Asters — Asters can be a bit challenging to grow as they need to be started indoors and are prone to dampening off.

• Eucalyptus — I’ve grown eucalyptus once in the past and have to say it didn’t result in a huge harvest. Eucalyptus needs to be started as early as January in Zone 3 and requires attention and consistent watering throughout the entire growing season. It will be a challenge, but one I’m looking forward to.

• Mammoth Blend Sweet Peas — Now I have only had good luck with sweet peas, but I hear from many gardeners that they have trouble germinating them and/or growing big vines. My trick is to direct sow them before the last frost when the soil is still cold.

• California Giants Zinnias — Classifying this flower as “intermediate” might come with some controversy as I know many find zinnias easy to grow. However, I find it can be difficult to get several blooms off a single plant. This year I plan to experiment with direct sowing some zinnias as I usually start them all indoors.

• Mexican Torch Tithonia — I am SO excited about this flower. It’s brand new to me, so getting classified as intermediate though from what I read it will likely be quite easy to grow. The plant can get up to 6’ tall in just a few weeks.

  Sultane Strawflowers — If you’ve never seen a strawflower, you’ll be blown away. The texture is so unique and they come in a range of beautiful colours. I have had trouble germinating strawflowers before, so this season I’ll also be experimenting by direct sowing half and starting the other half indoors.

Edible Flowers – Beginner Level

• Borage — I believe borage is an underrated herb that needs more love. The flowers and leaves are edible and make beautiful additions to a salad.

• Calendula — Calendula petals work great sprinkled over salads. They can be a bit slow growing but do well with continuous deadheading.

• Bergamot — This will be a new to me edible flower. The fact that the taste is comparable to earl grey tea had me convinced I needed to try it!

• Nasturtiums — I’ve been growing nasturtiums for a long time and they never fail to impress. The foliage looks great spilling down the side of a raised bed. The flowers have a spicy, pepper-like flavour.

In The Greenhouse

Parthenocarpic Varieties

Parthenocarpic varieties are plants that are bred to set fruit without requiring pollination. This is why they are a great option for greenhouse growing. Typically parthenocarpic seeds are more expensive.

• Siletz Slicing Tomato — Bred to produce fruit very early on even in cold night time temperatures. 

• Piccolo Eggplant — Eggplants are so tricky for me, so I’m hoping to have more luck with this parthenocarpic variety. It produces small oval fruit that are stripped purple and white.

• Tyria Slicer Cucumbers — An English cucumber variety that is bred for greenhouse growing. I’ll be growing these up a netting as they can get to 14’ tall!

• Socrates Pickling/Salad Cucumbers — Another cucumber bred for greenhouse growing. The difference with this one is that we will use them for pickling.

And there you have it!

That’s everything I’m growing in my 2022 organic garden this season.

I wrote this post because it is exactly the type of content I looked for when I first started gardening. With so many seed varieties to choose from, I felt overwhelmed knowing what to pick.

I hope this list eliminates that stress for you! You can start with the plants categorized as ‘Beginner Level’ and work your way up from there.

Remember, gardening should be fun. It should fuel your soul.

Tag me in your garden photos on Instagram @fromsoiltosoul