How to Vegetable Garden in February

How to vegetable garden in February? Well of course that depends upon whether you are to the north or south of the equator. For those vegetable gardening north of the equator it is still very much winter but now that the days are getting longer there is the promise of spring in the air and starting to tend the vegetable garden in earnest.

Winter gardening is perhaps not as appealing as summer gardening but this is a great time to spend vegetable garden planning.

If you are just starting to grow your own vegetables you may be tempted to wait until the warmer weather arrives but you will find yourself behind seasoned gardeners in the race to crop the first vegetables of the season. It is possible to sow seed and start vegetable plants in a greenhouse or even a cold frame sited in a sheltered position. At night when it is really cold the cold frame can be covered with a piece of old carpet to keep off the worst of the frost. Remember to remove it in the morning otherwise the result will be leggy vegetable plants.

Growing Potatoes

There is something satisfying about lifting your own crop of potatoes and let’s face it what tastes nicer than digging up those first young potatoes where the skin comes off to your touch, cooked immediately in a pan of boiling water and straight onto the plate with a knob of butter. Tempted? Then give potato growing a try.

The soil is too cold to plant potato tubers in February. What the gardener can do in February is to chit tubers to prepare them for planting out in mid March or early April once the soil has warmed up. Chitting just is just a way of getting the seed potatoes to sprout before planting. All seed potatoes have a more rounded end on which you will see a number of ‘eyes’. Stand the tubers with the blunt end upright and give them lots of light. An easy way, and cheap way, of keeping the potato tubers the right way up is to use old egg boxes. The potatoes are ready to be planted out when the shoots are between half an inch and one inch long.

It is not essential to chit seed potatoes but it has been shown that chitted potatoes reach maturity faster than those planted without going through the chitting process.

Chives

If your soil is workable, lift and divide clumps of chives that have become overcrowded. They are easy to pull apart into smaller clumps that can be planted 6 to 10 inches apart. These smaller clumps will soon bulk up and provide you with even more chives.

Get the best of both worlds by using chives to edge a border. Firstly they look nice in flower and secondly being on the border edge makes them easy to cut to go on those egg sandwiches.

Onions

Plant out autumn sown onions as soon as the soil is fit to do so. If the soil is cold, wet and sticky then leave until dryer and friable.

Parsley

Gardeners In warmer regions could try a small sowing of parsley in a sheltered spot. It is far too early for the main sowing but it is worth taking a chance on a small sowing that will fill a gap before the main is ready.

Turnips

If your soil is once more workable and warm try a first sowing of turnips. Cover the ground to help to keep it dry and warm before sowing and once a sowing is made cover the drill with a cloche which will help to speed up germination and cropping.

Growing Lettuce

Sow lettuce seeds thinly in a small pot of compost. Do not be tempted to sow too thickly as this will only make it harder to prick the seedling out later and the cooler conditions and lack of air flow is likely to result in rotting off.

Cauliflower

The advice for cauliflowers is the same as that for lettuce. However it is likely that you may have sown cauliflowers under glass in late January and these will now be ready for pricking out.

If you are a new vegetable gardener it is best to give cauliflower growing a miss until you have more experience. There are easier brassicas to grow!

Growing Tomatoes

Sow seed of tomatoes giving them some bottom heat and protection if you have not already sown in January. January sown tomatoes will be ready for pricking out and planting into 3 inch pots. Take care to hold by the leaves and not the stem when pricking out.

I always used to sow my tomato seeds in January but one year tried a sowing in January and a sowing in February and found that the February sowing soon caught up. Having said that I only have minimal heat in my greenhouse but if you can afford to provide higher warmth I am sure your January sowing would maintain their advantage.

Planting tomatoes in their final positions may be some time off but seeing those small plants lifts the spirits and gives the gardener something to look forward to.

Cucumbers

I do not sow my cucumbers in February because I do not maintain high heat in the greenhouse. If you are prepared to provide and maintain good heat then try a sowing in February.

Try growing the smaller fruiting varieties that mature at a size large enough to be used up at one meal. What better than picking a cucumber fresh from the plant to eat rather than storing half in the fridge for a few days?

See also:

How to Vegetable Garden in January

How to Vegetable Garden in March