It’s the most wonderful time of the year: the return of garden season! While we technically started our cabbages, broccoli and kale on New Year’s Day {and up-potted the seedlings mid-January}, our first real Garden Day is usually around Valentine’s. Pro tip: Scheduling your planting around holidays makes it very easy to remember what happens when.

Speaking of brassicas: those little babies are doing so good! They’re going to get to stay inside another month{ish}, then they’ll be planted out in the garden.

We decided to try a new kind of green pea this year, after our sugar snap peas cross-pollinated and lost some of their goodness. These are bush-type peas rather than vining, and while the pods are supposed to be “mini” they promise to pack a flavorful punch. We shall see!

It was also time to plant the onions. We started these seeds back in October, and they’ve been wintering on the porch. It’s a different variety than we grew last year, and at first we weren’t sure we’d have enough. But approximately 200 onions later, and I think we underestimated them. Last year we did plant them at the end of March, so we’re a month earlier, but hopefully the worst of the cold is over and they’ll be okay.

Tomatoes used to get started around Valentine’s as well, but with the soil blocks, they grow too fast and get too leggy. Last year we pushed them back a few weeks, and it worked out a lot better, so we’re trying that again this year.

We did start our peppers however, using seeds we saved! These started as nadapeños, and we think they may have slightly crossed with the giant sweet peppers we grew in 2024, because last year they got huge and were slightly less jalapeño-y. But still delicious, and we are excited to see how they turn out this summer.

It seems like just a few weeks ago we were scrambling to keep up with the harvest, and we’re already back to starting the next year of vegetables! Time flies, and gardening definitely moves you through the year. You have to start seeds early, so the plantlings are the right size for being planted at the proper time. Watering duties have returned, which are never quite as fun in February/March as they will be in May/June, but hey: the garden calls.

Have you started any seeds yet?
Are you planning a garden this year? If so, what do you want to plant?