Mid-South: January 2016

Good morning everyone. And Happy New Year!

Don't know what YOU did last night, but I went to bed last night about 10:30 to the sound of fireworks. Actually went to bed later than usual for a NYE... But I certainly remember those days of staying up till dawn, lol!

New year, new gardening plans! DH & I walked around the back yard yesterday planning stuff out. While I'm concentrating on getting the gardening space cleaned up & get the new hoop houses up (and seeding, etc.), he's planning out my greenhouse! We're going to start with a 10'x12' & grow from there. I'm also going to build some TT's to put on the south side of the house and hopefully get some raspberries or blackberries planted. (DH doesn't know about that yet, so shhhhh....)

The rain has stopped for the next few days. The ground is completely saturated & the humidity is about 70% according to NOAA. Temp here is 41 and supposed to get to the low to mid 50's. We'll be down to freezing tonight. The breeze is apparently blowing & has the wind chill at close to freezing now. So I think I'll wait till it warms a bit before going outside, lol! I think I'll wait till Sunday to mow the grass one last time (I HOPE!)...

So what can we in 7B/8A do right now? Well, gardenate.com has a long list of items we can get going today & into February:

Planting now in January for the USA - Zone 7b zone

Broccoli Start undercover in seed trays and plant out in 4-6 weeks. Harvest from April.
Cabbage Plant in garden. Harvest from April.
Carrot Plant in garden. Harvest from May.
Celery Start undercover in seed trays and plant out in 4-6 weeks. Harvest from June.
Kale (also Borecole) Start undercover in seed trays and plant out in 4-6 weeks. Harvest from April.
Lettuce Plant in garden. Harvest from April.
Mustard greens (also gai choy) Plant in garden. Harvest from March.
Onion Plant in garden. Harvest from August.
Potato Plant in garden. Harvest from June.
Radish Plant in garden. Harvest from March.
Spinach (also English spinach) Plant in garden. Harvest from March.
Turnip Plant in garden. Harvest from March.

Planting in February

Artichokes (Globe) Start undercover in seed trays and plant out in 4-6 weeks. Harvest from December.
Asparagus Plant in garden. Harvest from 24 months.
Beetroot (also Beets) Plant in garden. Harvest from April.
Broccoli Plant in garden. Harvest from March.
Brussels sprouts Start undercover in seed trays and plant out in 4-6 weeks. Harvest from May.
Cabbage Plant in garden. Harvest from April.
Cape Gooseberry (also Golden Berry, ) Start undercover in seed trays and plant out in 4-6 weeks. Harvest from May.
Capsicum (also Bell peppers, Sweet peppers) Start undercover in seed trays and plant out in 4-6 weeks. Harvest from April.
Carrot Plant in garden. Harvest from May.
Cauliflower Plant in garden. Harvest from June.
Celeriac Start undercover in seed trays and plant out in 4-6 weeks. Harvest from May.
Celery Start undercover in seed trays and plant out in 4-6 weeks. Harvest from June.
Chicory (also Witloof, Belgian endive) Start undercover in seed trays and plant out in 4-6 weeks. Harvest from June.
Chilli peppers (also Hot peppers) Start undercover in seed trays and plant out in 4-6 weeks. Harvest from April.
Collards (also Collard greens, Borekale) Plant in garden. Harvest from April.
Corn Salad (also Lamb's lettuce or Mache) Plant in garden. Harvest from March.
Eggplant (also Aubergine) Start undercover in seed trays and plant out in 4-6 weeks. Harvest from May.
Kale (also Borecole) Plant in garden. Harvest from April.
Leeks Start undercover in seed trays and plant out in 4-6 weeks. Harvest from May.
Lettuce Plant in garden. Harvest from April.
Marrow Start undercover in seed trays and plant out in 4-6 weeks. Harvest from May.
Mint (also Garden mint) Start undercover in seed trays and plant out in 4-6 weeks. Harvest from April.
Mizuna (also Japanese Greens, Mitzuna, Mibuna) Plant in garden. Harvest from March.
Mustard greens (also gai choy) Plant in garden. Harvest from March.
Onion Plant in garden. Harvest from August.
Parsnip Start undercover in seed trays and plant out in 4-6 weeks. Harvest from June.
Potato Plant in garden. Harvest from June.
Pumpkin Start undercover in seed trays and plant out in 4-6 weeks. Harvest from May.
Radish Plant in garden. Harvest from March.
Rhubarb Plant in garden. Harvest from 12 months.
Silverbeet (also Swiss Chard or Mangold) Start undercover in seed trays and plant out in 4-6 weeks. Harvest from April.
Spinach (also English spinach) Plant in garden. Harvest from March.
Strawberries (from seeds) Start undercover in seed trays and plant out in 4-6 weeks. Harvest from 12 months.
Tomato Start undercover in seed trays and plant out in 4-6 weeks. Harvest from April.
Turnip Plant in garden. Harvest from March.

So there's no reason for us to sit around moping & waiting for spring warm-up!

This is also BECOMING a good time to trim trees & bushes and apply dormant oil (if you do so) to your fruit trees. I would probly wait a few days to ensure we don't go back up to the 70's...

Johnny's Seeds has a great interactive calendar to help you plan out your planting/seeding times. Just copy & paste into your browser.

http://www.johnnyseeds.com/e-pdgseedstart.aspx?source=W_InteractiveTools_122014

Have fun! Let us know what YOU'RE doing in your garden this month!

So DH got an email from one of his poker buddies that he set his house on fire last night... Electrical... DH, being the kind-hearted man that he his, jumped in the truck at 11 pm to go help his friend.

So I did some seeding!

San Marzano & Yellow Pear tomatoes, cantaloupe, cabbage, onions, and a few other things. More to come hopefully today!

I know it is OT but please keep us informed about your DH's friend's fire.  Just sending good thoughts that it is not serious.

Thanks. Apparently it's not TOO bad. Had too much hooked into too little a cord. Lost his entertainment system & don't know what else. Thankfully they hadn't gone to bed!

Okay, enough OT. Back to real life! Gardening!

:-)

AtlantaMarie wrote:Thanks.  Apparently it's not TOO bad.  Had too much hooked into too little a cord.  Lost his entertainment system & don't know what else.  Thankfully they hadn't gone to bed!

Okay, enough OT.  Back to real life!  Gardening!

:-)

I lost my whole house to fire in 2005 or there abouts.  We had just purchased a house and had it renovated.  The builders left and it burned down the next night.  Down to the ground.,  Luckily we had not moved into it yet.  The good news was that it allowed us to have a brand new house instead of a 14 year old house and the insurance was replacement value and covered everything.  We had good insurance and didnt have to pay a dime.  We were also living in our old house so the only bad part of it was we had to wait until the house was rebuilt.

AtlantaMarie wrote:So DH got an email from one of his poker buddies that he set his house on fire last night...  Electrical...  DH, being the kind-hearted man that he his, jumped in the truck at 11 pm to go help his friend.

So I did some seeding!

San Marzano & Yellow Pear tomatoes, cantaloupe, cabbage, onions, and a few other things.  More to come hopefully today!

Planting cantaloupe in Jan.  Hmmmm.  Isn't that a little early???  Oh well, it is only a few seeds.

I want them to be big & strong when they go in the garden!

And, truthfully, I think I panicked a bit when I saw some folks posting on fb that they were already seeding... In NY!

If they don't work, I've got more seeds...

I can't imagine having a house fire in one's primary residence, even a small one. The smoke and water damage! Yolos, you were so, so lucky that you hadn't moved as it burned to the ground!

I agree! And a new house to boot! Is that what they call a blessing in disguise...?

I remember when we renovated our kitchen. We found the wiring for the dishwasher had just been run under the cabinets. The electrician had just cut V notches for the wires. They had rubbed raw in that V and were sparking apparently... the wires were burned in a couple of places.

Scary stuff!

Oh my, fires are so scary.

AtlantaMarie wrote:I remember when we renovated our kitchen.  We found the wiring for the dishwasher had just been run under the cabinets.  The electrician had just cut V notches for the wires.  They had rubbed raw in that V and were sparking apparently...  the wires were burned in a couple of places.

Scary stuff!