January is garden planning month, but you can start any time. If this is not your first year, you probably have an idea of what worked last year, and what didn’t. If you want to try again, or not. If there is something new you want to try. If it is your first year, I know you have already planned the bountiful harvest of tomatoes, peppers, corn, squash, and greens.
My gardening began over thirty years ago with a 6 pack of pepper seedlings, that my landlord ran over with the lawn mower. The next year I had a tomato plant and a few pepper plants…sadly, the neighbor dog ate.
I am not sure why I even kept trying after my first two attempts.
I ended up a few years later with a real garden. Real rows of tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers, maybe more. I loved it.
I have had many good gardens and many not so good gardens. In fact, 2024 garden was a FLOP. The rabbits infiltrated my green house and ate everything. I was not diligent with weeding in June when I should have been and that made it a task finding the raised beds, let alone the plants inside them.
So, January is the time to plan. It’s time to decide about rotating crops in the raised beds. Do I want to sell seedlings this year? If so, how many and what kinds? What seeds do I want to order?
In recent years I have kind of involved my husband in the planning. Mostly he just has a few tidbits he wants me to add or take away. For instance, he would like just red or yellow tomatoes. He also does not care much for turnips or parsnips.
Now my new sidekick is my granddaughter. I did not realize how much fun it was to teach gardening to your granddaughter. We have decided to plant corn, cucumbers, peppers, pumpkins, squash, melons, and many new herbs and flowers.
I have hopes that she has fond memories long after I am gone, of the seed catalogs spread on the table with the pages earmarked, comparing them to the boxes of seeds to see what we need to order and our notebook with the many ideas we’ve had.
There are four things I try to remember about ordering seeds:
1. Don’t plant what you don’t like to eat.
If you are not going to eat what grows I do not see why you would put the effort into growing the plant and nurturing it to maturity only to waste, it. Save that garden space, time, and energy for something you will eat.
2. Don’t buy what you already have.
It is a waste of money to buy seeds you already have. If you want to have a seed bank, or you will be using up your leftover seeds for the year…order away. If you have ten packets of seeds and you are going to only need a half of a pack, don’t order more. Seeds are quite hardy, many are viable for years, with only a slight drop in germination rates.
3. You really do not need every tomato variety. (or every variety of any plant)
I am terrible with keeping to this rule. I want every kind of tomato, and every kind of pepper, and every kind of radish…the list goes on and on. Which then means I have so many seed packets.
If you keep your seeds in a cool dark place they will keep for many years. if in doubt you can do a germination test. I did this with a few herbs packets a couple of years ago.
A germination test is as easy as taking a damp paper towel, placing a few seeds in the center and fold it up. (I try 5-10, for the ease of figuring math.) Place the towel into a plastic bag and let it sit on the counter. I check once a day and wait to see how many sprouts. If only 1 out of 10 sprouts, you have a 10% germination rate. You can then transplant those sprouts into dirt if you would like.
4. Annual vs. perennial? Hardiness Zones?
Annual plants live one season, and perennials can come back year after year. Annuals are usually veggie plants; while perennials are mostly herbs and berries, in my area. I am a zone 4B, so our temperatures drop dramatically in the winter months. Our first and last frost dates are remarkably close together as well, giving us a noticeably short growing season.
Hardiness zones are something you should really pay attention to. I get very frustrated trying to grow something and it keeps dying every year, just to find out it likes to be in warmer, or dryer, or more humid, or colder climates. Also, there are some things that could be perennial in warmer climates but are annuals in the colder ones.
This year I hope to grow a perennial tea garden. I will be planting some of the seeds in pots to allow for those plants that would winter kill here to be brought in and hibernate in my basement or hang out by the windows soaking in what little sunshine there is during the Montana winter.
5. Hybrid or Heirloom?
Of course, we all want the best for our gardens. So, you must determine what you believe to be the best for your garden. Do you want to save seeds from your plants this year to grow next year? You should go with Heirloom seeds. I have to say it is quite a feeling of accomplishment when you grow a second-year crop from seeds you saved from plants you grew. unfortunately, it is not as easy as you think. Different seeds need to be saved in different ways. I read somewhere that you have to soak tomato seeds in water until there is mold on the top, scrape off the mold, strain the seeds, and then spread on a paper towel to dry. I don’t know if that works or not since the one time I tried, my three-year-old granddaughter who was helping in the greenhouse dumped them out. Twice.
With that I would always encourage you to grow in your gardening. If you do not like spinach from a can…maybe this year, you could grow just a bit of fresh and try it. Maybe one new variety of tomato is ok. Start small. No one wants to take a rewarding gardening hobby and turn it into an overwhelming task.
I cannot wait to share our garden this year and I hope you will share yours with us.