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| Winter cress in portable greenhouse |
Sunday, January 22, 2023
Last half of January is not too early to sow seeds outdoors and plant bare root fruit trees/bushes for early spring harvests. I sow peas as soon as the soil can be worked. I sow cold hardy green seeds in my portable greenhouse to get a jump on spring harvests.
Snow peas and Austrian peas can be sowed as soon as garden soil can be worked in late winter. Since I grow my snow peas in pots, the soil warms (and cools) quicker in pots than the garden bed. My uncle shared childhood stories of planting pea seeds when the ground was still icy. Back in the day, fresh greens were needed as soon as they could be grown. Most peas will sprout once soil temperatures get to 40F. You don't want to plant them if the ground is frozen or sopping wet as they can rot before germination. All parts of the pea vine are edible, including the leaves and flowers. I grow snow peas because you the whole pod is edible and great either fresh in salads or cooked. I also have Austrian peas that have sprouted that I planted in early winter. They can be planted now, too.
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| In portable greenhouse, Austrian peas in front, lettuce to left and rear, celery in back pot |
Winter or cold hardy green seeds can also be planted in either a greenhouse or hotbed. If planted in a hotbed, they will germinate and grow quicker than in a greenhouse. I currently only have portable greenhouses covering my pots. I have lettuce, cress, tat soi, celery, arugula, sorrel and mustard greens that have overwintered and are starting to really grow now. You can sow seeds for any of the cold hardy greens now. I will be planting spinach seeds to round out my spring greens in the portable greenhouse.
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| Tat soi on right in portable greenhouse |
You can also plant any bare root fruit trees or shrubs right now in the garden as soon as the soil can be worked.
January outdoor greenhouse or hot beds
Cold hardy lettuce, kale, mustard seeds
Snow pea seeds
Spinach seeds
Austrian winter pea seeds
January yard, garden bed
Bare root fruit trees and bushes
For more on edible gardening in colder weather:
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