Winter Gardening Guide - February

It is still very much winter in February here in Georgia. February also marks the early start to the gardening season in zone 8. This means the month of February is packed with all kinds of things to do including the much anticipated planting seeds indoors, planting outdoor cool season crops as well as getting ready for the planting of warmer weather crops in just a few months. Our Winter Gardening Guide is here to help you make the most of the month of February so that your crops can have a great start!

Spring Garden Planting

February is the time of year where you begin to finalize your spring garden planting journal that you started in December and January. This is also the ideal time to have fun figuring out where all your seedlings are going to be planted in the garden. Somewhere between the middle and end of the month you will be able to start planting, albeit limited, cool weather crops. We will cover more about that in another section. Use garden planting guides to help you determine what can be started indoors late January and early February so that these crops can be ready to plant later in the month.

Garden Preparedness and Maintenance

This is a step that most people overlook and try to do at the time of planting. I know this from personal experience. Even though it is cold, this is an important step for the success of your vegetable garden. For many years, I neglected this step and tried to do it at the time of planting only to experiece a lot of heartache, diminished crops, and not to mention not having the right tool at the time I needed it most. So, don't skip this step. This is a must on the to-do-list for February. What exactly does garden preparedness and maintenance cover? It includes clean up of garden beds, amending the garden soil, and mulching the garden. Let's take a look at each of these areas.

• Clean up and Clearing out Garden Beds.

  This is especially important if you have perennials that will be coming up. I like to rake out any leaves, mulch them up, and put them to one side to use in the next step. Cleaning out the garden beds helps to prep them for the next planting season so that they are ready at the right time when you are ready to plant. Doing this in February saves a lot of time later. It will also give you material to put in your compost pile.

  
  

• Amending and Fertilizing the Garden Soil

  Soil health is really important; this is the life of your plant. This is where your compost pile and your vermicompost (compost from your worm bin if you have one) is put to good use. Take enough compost and make a layer of at least 1-2 inches thick on the top of your cleaned out beds. We personally do not till this in, we allow the earthworms and the other microorganisms that live in the compost to do that work for us.

• Mulch the Garden Beds

  If not used in the compost pile, I like to use crushed up leaves over the top of my beds. Also, the spent woodchips in the paths of my beds can be used as a mulch and new wood chips are put down in the paths. This is a really big job, so February is a great month to do it. Mulching the bed helps to feed the bed as the leaves and wood chips become fungal food, but it also helps reduce weed pressure as there will be weeds that like to germinate in February and March. Not only will mulching help with weed pressure, but mulching creates a protective layer over your soil. This helps the soil not to dry out in the warmer months, and also helps keep the soil a little warmer in the cooler months. Mulching also helps to reduce compaction of the soil in your garden beds that is caused by wind and rain.

Garden Tools and Supplies

February is also a great time to check your garden tools. Determine if they need sharpening or cleaning. Now is the time to get all your tools including your lawnmower in tip top shape for the growing season ahead. There's nothing worse than reaching for a tool when you need it only to find out it cannot do the job.

Winter Composting

Creating compost is one of the best things we can do for our garden. A healthy garden begins with soil that is well structured and nutrient rich. If you are like me, I thought that composting was something that could only be done in warmer weather, but I've recently learned that winter composting is achievable and helps to get the nutrients your garden is going to need as it heads into the next growing season.

Starting Seeds Indoors

Before starting seeds indoors it is important to know your zone's last frost date. This helps you determine when to start your seeds so that your seedlings are ready for transplant at the right time. Once you know the last frost date for your area, you will need to calculate when to start your seeds indoors. Look at the seed packet and locate the seed maturation date and simply count back that number of days from the last frost date.

Warm weather crops can be sown indoors towards the end of February into early March, which will allow 6 - 8 weeks before last frost date. Typically this will be around April 1 - 15 here in Central Georgia. Warm weather crops include but not limited to:

• Tomato

• Peppers

• Summer & Winter Squash

• Lettuce

• Eggplant

Cool season crops need to be started indoors towards the end of January into early February so they can be planted towards the end of February. Examples of cool weather crops include:

Asian Greens	Lettuce
Beets	Onion
Broccoli	Peas
Cauliflower	Radish
Fava Beans	Spinach
Kale	Swiss Chard
Kohlrabi	Turnip/ Rutabaga

Mid February is also a really good time to set your sweet potato in flats for making slips by barely covering them with potting mix or compost.

This time of year is also a good time to check any beets, cabbage, carrots, garlic, kohlrabi, onions, potatoes, rutabaga, sweet potato, turnips and winter squash you have in storage. You may already have some of these in your in garden that might be ready for harvest.

Seeing as February often has rapid and unpredictable weather changes, you can use row covers or crop covers to protect your plants if there is still a threat for frost. Remember these are cold weather crops and they love it cold. Just remember to remove the row covers or crop covers when the threat of frost is past.

So make the most of this time of year! Now is the time to prepare beds while your seeds are sprouting and getting ready for transplanting. Row covers, hoop houses, and low tunnels allow for early planting and will give your crops a great start.

Happy gardening!