February

With this year's mild winter, many of the over-wintered veggies left in the garden survived, and are now ready to harvest. The beets, carrots and kale seem sweeter now than their fall counterparts, and are a bright, welcome addition to the heavy meals of winter.
 
February is a good month consider your soil. Did you plant a cover crop? It will be soon time to till it into the soil. No cover crop? No problem! Now is a good time to amend your soil with a generous serving of compost, to replenish the soil's nutrients and ready it for spring planting. 

Older perennials can be divided this month to produce healthier plants. Tips can be found here.  
 
Though our last frost date is months away, local gardeners eager to get their hands in the soil can try their luck and direct-plant the following seeds outdoors (for better odds, cover with cloche):

• arugula
• fava beans
• beets
• carrots
• lettuce
• mustard
• peas: snap or snow
• radish
• spinach
  
  

This month, gardeners can also start the following seeds indoors:

• artichoke
• broccoli
• cabbage
• cauliflower
• leek
• kale
• scallion
• onion

Have leftover seed packets from previous plantings? This month is a good time to check for seed viability. Here is an easy way to check to see if the seed package you opened three years ago is still viable.