January Vegetable Planning

January and its time to start planning for the growing season. By assessing your space and what you want to eat this year, a good plan can alleviate “gardening anxiety” and can help map out the tasks necessary to get what you want.

Soon it will be time to sow some vegetables seeds indoors so that when we pass the frost free period seedlings can be transplanted into the garden. On the west coast, the frost free time is usually the end of March, but every year can be slightly different. Planning in relation to the frost free date is an exercise of working backwards. Vegetables germinate at different rates but allowing 6 – 8 weeks for germination and development to a decent seedling size, is a good baseline. In the Lower Mainland, assuming that the first frost free day is March 30, then you could start sowing some of your early vegetables indoors in the first week of February.

Many vegetables do best when grown as transplants and others do better when sown directly in the garden. The list includes common vegetables, not all. See below.

One consideration is each vegetable has an estimated number of days to maturity (DTM). It’s not an exact science but each seed packet will give the DTM. Obviously, there are many factors that will affect the DTM, temperature, moisture, sunlight, competition … But DTM on the seed packets provide useful information for planning.

Having fresh produce in your garden all year around means developing a sowing schedule for vegetables in the shoulder seasons and the winter. I can help you develop an annual plan for your garden. http://www.jamesgates.info

Sow Indoors

Artichoke
Asparagus – takes 3 years
Brassicas – except kale
Celery
Cucumber
Eggplant
Fennel
Leeks
Lettuce
Melons
Storage Onions
Peppers
Squash
Tomatoes

Sow Directly

Arugula
Beans
Beets
Carrots
Corn Salad
Endive/Radicchio
Kale
Kohlrabi
Scallions
Peas
Radishes
Spinach
Swiss Chard
Turnips