Western Algarve – Growing Vegetables in February

I like to keep a monthly diary of the fruit and veg I’m growing in my urban garden – successes and failures.

It’s worth noting the temperature in the Western Algarve is cooler than East and Central. While we do not experience ground frosts, many inland areas do. We seem to have our own microclimate. So far this winter night time temperatures have stayed well above freezing. I hope I don’t live to regret that comment.

What fruit and vegetables to plant in February – Western Algarve?

Squash, onions, carrots, leeks, lettuce, cabbages (numerous varieties), spinach, carrots, radish, beetroot, strawberries, aubergine, beans, watercress, rocket, red peppers, yellow peppers, courgette, cucumbers, melon etc. Take into account your microclimate and temperatures. Go to the local market and buy seed plugs for an early start. You will be spoiled for choice. Now the weather is warming up, I will plant a lot of my own seeds. I tend to avoid this during the winter months as I’ve learned from experience the seedlings tend to be spindly due to lack of light… and I’ve only limited pace to prick them all out and still keep them warm.

Raised Bed

What’s growing now? Red onions, lettuce and carrots

Spinach. Plugs planted early Feb

Kale, salsa carrots and radish.

I bought more Kale plugs at the end of February, including the purple variety.

Radish

I grew these from seed.

Strawberries

*

Tomatoes

I am still waiting for these to germinate.

Cucumber Seedlings

I planted these on the 5th Feb in a sheltered sunny position in a mini propagator

Aubergines

I started seeds on the 5th of February at the same time as the cucumbers, but after several weeks, no luck so I bought seed plugs from the market

Yellow Peppers

I was surprised to see these on sale at the market so early.

Growing Lettuce in Containers

Lettuce grows throughout the year, so I always have a few tubs of lettuce in various stages of development. I only harvest the leaves and not the whole lettuce. I buy these from the market. I’ve tried growing lettuce from seed without success.

Rogil Market 25th February

One of our favourite places to buy veg plugs is the monthly market held in Rogil (last Sunday of the month). This month the weather was grim so we didn’t hang around to scope out all the plants they had on offer. I did notice they had several varieties of tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and courgettes (zucchini), etc. I want to grow black tomatoes. I saved seeds from last year, so I will grow my own. Plus, I have lots of other varieties I saved and a mixed bag of varieties from tomatoes I have eaten and enjoyed. I will also try those.

That’s it for February and I’m now looking forward to more gardening adventures March.

I also found this indexed on the first page of Google. One of my posts from 2010!

Portugal: Growing Fruit and Vegetables in February