This time of year I always get so excited here at the Yardstead! It is almost spring planting time. Although we plant a garden through all four seasons, there is nothing like the excitement of Spring for us! We had 14 consecutive days of freezing weather in January. That is not normal in our area of the southeast. We have lost some of our citrus and many plants such as our bamboo were burnt back to the ground. We really hope these plants will begin growing again when the weather warms up.
Amazingly enough, turnips, onions and garlic came through the winter garden for us just fine. It is normal for us to plant potatoes in February around the 14th. So next weekend we will be putting potatoes in the ground along with some cabbage and broccoli. I plan to wait at least an additional two weeks to plant snow peas. Also, the potatoes we want to try in 5 gallon buckets this year will be planted in a couple more weeks. In early March all of the seeds for vegetable transplants into the garden in early April will be planted.
Our native pinneapple guava had no problem with the freezing this year. We plan to plant some native paw paws this year. We hope more natives mean less loss in any future freezing winters.
I hope everyone is thinking of their spring gardens. Just going through the seed catalogs gives us spring fever. Please check out Baker Creek heirloom seeds! They have some amazing variety and if you want, you can collect your own seed in the following seasons.
Happy Gardening!