Give your summer garden a boost this year, with these 15 seeds to start in February. We all love fresh veggies and winter is the worst for me here on the farm, but with careful planning next season, we will have veggies year round. You can get started now and be harvesting yummies in a couple of months. 
On the farm, we already have lots of seeds started, the ones that I’m going to list for you today and some others that we like to always have around.
- Tomatoes – We have a couple of varieties started. One of our favorites is a nice big, red, juicy Beefsteak tomato. Perfect for burgers and sandwiches, or just a little salt and pepper
- Peppers – In our gardens, we’ve started a Cal Wonder Bell Pepper, Jalapenos, and a few others. Peppers like a lot of heat during the growing season. Start them early so you can get a great harvest.
- Tomatillos – If you’re a fan of salsa or green enchilada sauce – you have got to plant tomatillos.
- Broccoli -The Di Cicco variety of broccoli was introduced in 1890 in Italy, and is still a popular garden crop to grow. Broccoli is hardy and can be grown in zones three through ten, and can withstand frost. Since we’re in zone 6, this will grow nicely for us.
- Cabbage – The Copenhagen Market cabbage was produced in Denmark and brought to America in 1909. It is a hardy garden crop that can be grown in climate zones three through nine. The plant produces medium sized, green heads that can liven up any dish. The Copenhagen variety is an early variety only 70ish days to harvest.
- Brussel Sprouts – AKA baby cabbages. We adore fresh brussel sprouts on the farm one of our favorites is garlic and olive oil roasted brussel sprouts. Brussels Sprouts can be grown in colder climates, and the crop is very tolerant of frost. While the sprouts can take up to one hundred days to reach maturity, they make great crops to grow during the winter and colder months of the year.
- Eggplant – We like to grow Black Beauty eggplants. This seed variety is perfect for eggplant parmesan or stuffed eggplant dishes.
- Kale – Red Russian Kale, also known as Ragged Jack, is a tender kale with bright red stems and forked oak leaf shaped leaves. Excellent as a baby green. Biennial treated as an annual. Grows in all zones, but prefers cooler climates.
- Kohlrabi – In German, “Kohl” means cabbage, and “Rabi” means turnip. Purple Vienna Kohlrabi produces a bulb with bright purple skin and crisp white flesh. A very turnip like flavor. Prefers colder climates but grows in zones 3-11.
- Collards – If you’re from the south, you know that collard greens are featured at nearly every meal.
- Onions – We typically grow a sweet onion and a bunching onion. Our favorite sweet onion is the Walla Walla. Some say this is the world’s best tasting onion. A delicious, mild, sweet onion, measuring about 4 inches across. In mild-winter areas plant in August for harvest early next summer.
- Leeks – We love a delicious creamy Leek and Potato Soup with bacon sprinkles. These will be a beautiful addition to our gardens this year.
- Chives – Really, what is a baked potato without chives? We grow garlic chives, very similar to regular chives, only with a flat leaf and a hint of garlic. These are wonderful in cheddar chive biscuits.
- Lavender – Fragrant leaves and blossoms for sachets and potpourri. Hardy plants with aromatic lavender blue flower spikes are lovely in borders in sunny, well-drained soils. We actually use lavender for so many things around the farm. The bees love it and it makes wonderful honey. We make essential oils from the buds (which we use on everything). We use it in baking and can even make extracts for flavoring.
- Fennel – Use bulb raw in salads or steamed, stir-fired, braised or baked. Use the fern-like tops as a fresh or dried herb to add a licorice-like flavor to foods or tea. We love it in baked ziti and the light licorice flavor adds such a complex flavor to every dish!
These are just a a handful of the seeds that can be started right now to give your summer gardens a boost. Please feel to reach out to us if you would like more ideas of what can be started in February.
15 Seeds to Start in February
I am seriously concerned about our upcoming food sources, and have some experience in gardening but, not as much as I’d like to! We always helped in the gardens while growing up…the parents and grandparents done the planting! I feel that I am a beginner. Here where we live in Ga. our area to plant is clay & rock, so raised bed and container will be the way we must grow.
Any advice you may have will be greatly appreciated!
Thanks in advance!
When we started growing here at the farm, we contacted several of our local ranchers and had them bring over the discard from cleaning out winter barns. We grow on hard clay so, we just began with building beds on top of the clay. Now we have decent soil beneath, but contiue to add compost every year.
Would you be able to tell me what zone you are growing in? I tend to start seedlings too early here in 6b. Thank you!
I’m zone 7A. We usually start in the greenhouse early, but never plant outside until June 1st.
Nice variety, comprehensive.
I’ve already started zucchini they are ready for outside they are 2inchs
That’s wonderful! We don’t actually start planing in the outside ground until June 1st.
I live in Central Texas. It gets really hot here. I grow my garden in containers, but did not have very good luck last year with aphids, leaf miners, and such. Then the frost hit and my garden was gone, even though I covered it with green mesh. So I am starting over from scratch. I don’t know how to compost. Any advice you can provide would be helpful. I used to garden with my Daddy, but he had all of the knowledge and it was done on the ground. Thanks.
Pest issues can be pretty pesky – sorry I had to. The best defense I have found for aphids and other various insects is diatomaceous earth (make sur to get food grade). It works like a charm for us. I recommend heavy mulching in container gardening if possible (straw and wood chips, even shredded cardboard are your friends here) keeping in as much moisture and protection from intense heat. Best of luck this season!
Take a look at my pins under bugs or get rid of bugs. I have some about getting rid of aphids.