February is actually the month of greatest snowfall in our area. It is a very deceptive month because it will host days of balmy sunshine when you think spring is just arriving, and then a week later everything is covered by a nasty snow with freezing rain and blowing cold. Don't be in a hurry to plant anything in this weather. Whatever you do get in the ground in early February is just going to sulk for a few weeks unless it is already well established. Target your outdoor planting for next month.
Instead, February is a month of structural preparation. You want to promote dry, well-drained soil, well mulched and free from grass and weeds. The leaf mold you put down last November should be covering the surface and ready to be turned under. The tarps that you've had covering the garden since at least January, and hopefully since November, will have kept off much of the rain, and kept the grass and weeds from growing.
Uncover the beds now and get a sense of their condition. Are they a sodden mass of mud and too wet to work? If so, keep them covered and wait a few more weeks. Pull any stubborn grass that may have grown around the edges and make a note of the condition of organic material in the soil. Prepare to augment with compost in the future.
Sometime in February, with covered, raised beds, the ground will dry out enough to work freely.
1. Turn under the leaf mulch and amend the soil with compost.
Garden structure consists of the raised beds, the soil, and the low tunnels. By putting in the work now of setting up this structure, the rest of the gardening season will be much less work. We can work on it now so by the time the growing season arrives, we're ready.
2. Assemble the low tunnels over the beds you will use for cool season crops. Even though there is nothing planted in them right now, this will further seal out moisture, taking over the job of the tarps, and continue warming the bed. Seal the row cover fabric securely so there is no danger of it blowing away.
About this time of the year, local garden centers in this area begin stocking the advanced guard of the gardening season. By the beginning of February, they should have onion and garlic bulbs ready for planting. Consult the Garden Layout to see which bed you are using for stem crops this year.
4. Set up your seed starting system inside the house.
Consulting the plant list, determine which crops you want to grow from seed, and which ones you will transplant from the garden center. You need a seed starting center inside with two sections: seed germination and growing on. In the germination section you will sow the seeds into individual plugs and get them to the point where they have their first true leaves. In the second section, you will transplant the plugs into 2-inch to 4-inch growing pots where they will achieve their full transplant size.
Two weeks before transplanting, begin the process of hardening off, by moving them outdoors for increasing lengths of time. Consider using your greenhouse area for this process.
If you have not already, go ahead and buy your seeds for the whole year and store them in the refrigerator inside plastic ziplock bags. (Don't just put the paper packet in the fridge or the seeds will mold.) When it is time to plant, remove the packet and let it come to room temperature before opening.
According to the Garden Planting Calendar,
you will need to have Lettuce, Bok Choi, and Green Onion growing in the
beds for the cool season. If they are not already overwintering, those
seeds should have been started in January in preparation for a March
transplanting into the garden. So in February, we need to take those
germinated seedlings and pot them on to 2-4" pots indoors to grow them
to transplant size.
By the third or fourth week of February, garden centers will have cell packs of the hardiest cold weather plants. Home Depot and Walmart had 6 and 9 packs of cabbage, chard, kale, and lettuce for $3.58. If you haven't started seeds in January, take stock of what is offered so that your cool season doesn't fall behind. At this point, you should have at least one raised bed with amended soil that has been covered with a low tunnel for a couple weeks and is ready for planting.
5. Buy at least one of the 9-cell seedling packs and plant them in your first prepared bed.
This may seem like cheating, but there is nothing like knowing that you have a growing crop of something in your garden to motivate and inspire you to greater heights. If you can get that first crop of living green in the garden, the more you will be committed to gardening for the entire season. Also, by getting a jump on that first crop of kale, you begin the clock ticking on your first harvest and that will continue to inspire you.
For a 12-foot bed, I can plant three 9-cell packs; spacing 9 plants in one 4 x 4 foot section. It is very likely after you have that first pack of seedlings in the garden, that you will want to go buy two more and fill out that first bed. I urge you not to resist that temptation.
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