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| Greens in portable greenhouse |
Sunday, February 23, 2025
February is usually the time the garden begins to wake up, readying itself for the growing season in the Midwest, Upper South edible garden. This February has been unusually cold so the garden is around 3 weeks behind where it has been the last couple of years. There are a few veggies that can be seeded outdoors as soon as the soil can be worked. Using season extending strategies can also help you harvest sooner.
It is supposed to start getting consistently above freezing for daytime highs starting today. Most of the snow that is left will be gone by this evening. It'll take a week or so for the soil to be workable. As soon as it is, I will take a soil sample to see what I need to get added to my beds. You can usually do a soil test every 2-3 years as long as you aren't making any major changes to the bed. My soil pH had gotten up close to 8 so I used sulfur last year to try and bring it down into the range edibles do best in, 6.5-7. If I need to add sulfur again this year, I want to apply it before mulching the beds along with the nutrients the soil test says my beds need.
I have had to keep my portable greenhouses covered for the last couple of weeks. I should be able to remove the covers tomorrow and likely keep them off until next winter. I do have lettuce, celery, parsley, chard, dill and some other greens growing in them. The extreme cold did get some of my lettuce plants, even under cover. The greens are large enough that I can harvest leaves for salads.
Outdoor seeding
There are a few cold hardy veggies that you can sow outdoors in February. Just about any variety that touts "winter hardy" are great ones to try in the February garden.
*Spinach seed can be scatter sown and will sprout when the temps are right. Grow spinach-a super nutritious, easy green
*Peas can be tucked into pots and in the garden. My granny would plant as soon as the soil could be worked, even with a little ice still in the soil! My fav are snow peas since you can eat the whole pod. Time to plant peas!
*Fava or broad beans can also be planted as soon as the ground can be worked. Grow a European favorite-the fava or broad bean
*This is the time of year that asparagus can be planted as soon as the soil can be worked. You won't be able to harvest the spears this year, but it gives the crowns the time they need so you can get a few next season.
*This is the time of year that asparagus can be planted as soon as the soil can be worked. You won't be able to harvest the spears this year, but it gives the crowns the time they need so you can get a few next season.
*Mache or corn salad is also a super winter hardy green that can be sown directly in the garden. Growing fabulous lettuce and greens
If you have a cold frame or portable greenhouse, you can also sow other cold hardy veggies under cover and they will get sprouting like lettuce, radishes, broccoli, cabbage.
Outdoor transplants
*Blueberry bushes and shallots when soil can be worked.
*At the end of this week, hardened off veggie transplants of cabbage, endive, kale, kohlrabi, leeks, lettuce, onions, pac choi, rhubarb, radicchio, scallions, shallots and spinach can be planted outside. A spring edible garden
*Many hardened herb plants can also be planted at the end of the month. Chives, fennel, horseradish, parsley and thyme. Start a kitchen herb garden!
I plan on begin starting seeds indoors today for the summer edible garden. I do have the bones of the plan developed from last fall that I refined in December. I have a large new bed to plant in that I am still working on finalizing all the plantings. My 2025 Edible Garden Plan I did research this winter on vole deterrents. I will add these to the plan to put around all my edible beds. Battle of the voles
