Zone 8 - What to Plant in January

Zone 8 - What to Plant in January

January is the time to start your garden in zone 8. To be ready for the last frost you should start all transplants inside in January so you're ready to go. January is your first window to start your indoor sowings and order your seeds for the spring season. The next two months are the most important for starting your vegetables on time. Start your tomatoes, peppers and other vegetables to be ready for spring transplant!

The Pink Brandywine Tomato is our favorite heirloom beefsteak for home gardens and a customer favorite for its sweet taste! This large, beefsteak-shaped tomato fruit grows upright on large leaved plants. This favored tomato contains few seeds and meaty flesh! The indeterminate tomato will ripen later than most, but will produces 10-20 ounce tomatoes until the first frost of fall.

Snowball Y Improved cauliflower is a popular open pollinated variety! This cauliflower is known for its vigorous, rapid growth and long harvest. Its head is snow-white and measures 7-8" inches across. Give this cauliflower fertile soil, full sun and steady moisture and you'll be rewarded with large, delicious heads that are high in vitamin C.

The Carolina Reaper is one of the hottest peppers in the world! This very hot pepper has a sweet chocolate-cherry under tone with hint of fiery citrus. The Guinness book of World Records has the Carolina Reaper at 1,569,000 Scoville Heat Units (SHU). Use with caution, extremely hot!

A wonderful mild chile with a sweet flavor and is larger and sweeter than the Poblano pepper. The mulato has been described as tasting somewhat like chocolate or licorice, with undertones of cherry and tobacco. Its heat rating is 2,500 to 3,000 on the Scoville scale. Dry these out to create the perfect mole sauce!

The Viroflay Spinach is a gourmet French heirloom that was developed prior to 1866. The big, smooth leaves of this Spinach variety is a deep green color and grows up to 10 inches long. This very fast growing plant is popular for fall planting.

Improved Rugen is a delicious alpine strawberry. Produces strong, upright plants that are great for rock gardens, border plantings and edible landscapes. Rugen produces smaller, elongated red berries with a sweet flavor. First grown over 250 years ago in France, these Alpine natives grow well in either sun or shade.

We believe this is the best tasting tomato available and even beats Brandywine for flavor. Productive plants produce large crops of 12 oz. fruits. Excellent tomato flavor. This strain was obtained from J. D. Green in Tennessee and is thought to be from the Cherokee Nation. Plants are indeterminate, but seldom grow more than 4' tall.

Sugar beets are the perfect natural choice to make sugar! You can boil the sugar beets in order to make a sugary syrup. These beets can grow up to 1 foot long and can weigh from 3-5 pounds. That means you need to thin them to make sure they have enough room to grow. Tops can grow 1-2' tall. Beet tops can be eaten, lightly grazed or fed to animals.

Little Gem lettuce is a small, compact variety that belongs to the Romaine family. Known for its tender, crisp leaves and sweet, mild flavor, it has become a favorite in both casual and fine dining. The heads are typically about the size of a fist, with tightly packed, bright green leaves that are both crunchy and delicate. Its flavor is a perfect balance between the slightly bitter taste of Romaine and the mild sweetness of Butterhead lettuce. Little Gem is often used in salads, sandwiches, or as a base for grilling, where its natural sweetness intensifies. Its small size also makes it an ideal choice for individual servings or garnishes. Rich in vitamins A, C, and K, it’s not only flavorful but also nutritious. Little Gem's heads are about 4 inches across and are prime eating from 4-6 inches tall. The plants can be spaced 6 1/2 by 6 1/2 inches for maximum yields. Growing Little Gem lettuce is relatively easy and well-suited to home gardeners, thriving in cool, temperate climates. This compact variety of lettuce prefers full sun but can tolerate partial shade, especially in hotter weather. It grows best in well-drained, fertile soil with a slightly acidic to neutral pH. To plant, sow seeds directly into the soil in early spring or late summer, spacing them about 6-8 inches apart to allow for proper air circulation and growth. Little Gem lettuce thrives with regular watering, but it’s important to avoid waterlogging, as this can lead to root rot. As it matures, the small heads form tight, crisp rosettes. Harvesting can begin in around 30-45 days, typically when the heads are firm but still small. For continuous harvest, sow new seeds every couple of weeks. Little Gem lettuce is also ideal for container gardening due to its compact size, making it a great choice for small spaces or urban gardens.

The Winter Density Lettuce is a favorite cold weather Romaine! This variety produces compact, extra-dark green heads that are 8" tall and very tightly folded. The Winter Density gets its name for doing well in the cold weather!

The Romanesco broccoli is a funky little vibrant broccoli! Known for its different appearance, it is also a really great tasting broccoli! This Italian variety is bright lime green with lots of texture. The Romanesco is excellent for cool areas.

Anaheim Chili is a meaty hot pepper that is great for stuffing. This pepper variety has a mild to medium heat for a chili pepper. Each of these plant produce an abundance of spicy chili peppers that are 5-8" long. Anaheim Chili is great for roasting, stuffing, stews, sauces and eaten raw! A farmer back in the early 1900s bought some of these pepper seeds in Anaheim, California thus giving them the name they have today. Anaheim Chili peppers can be harvested while green or for more spiciness let them turn deep red.

Fragaria vesca var. vesca, aka Woodland Strawberry, has white flowers and small, very flavorful crimson berries. This everbearing alpine strawberry will produce fruit all summer long.

Red Romaine Lettuce has long, crinkled leaves with great crunch! This variety starts green and fades to redish-purple. The Red Romaine's leaves are12" tall and the plant is about 10-12" wide. This lettuce is often used in Caesar salads not only for its crunch, but also for its color. Use Red Romaine lettuce for an incredible edible purple border in your flower beds.

The Jersey Devil Tomato is an extremely prolific old heirloom paste-type variety that is shaped like a little banana pepper! These juicy tomatoes have a very meaty texture that is great for making into sauces and salsas. This old favorite produces very little seeds! The Jersey Devil grows to be about 5-6 inches.

The Large Red Cherry Tomato is the perfect little mouth watering fresh eating tomato that grows in clusters and is the perfect addition to salads! This variety grows on hardy vines, with green foliage that produces green fruits that may be picked early for pickling, while the ripe ones are used fresh or for preserves.

The Santa Fe Lettuce produces a small blanched head that is surrounded by green outer leaves with a tinged bronze-red tip. This variety is a favorite for being extra crunchy!

Waltham 29 produces incredibly high yields for broccoli! This variety is known for its good color, cold resistance, dwarf compact plant, and big side shoots. Main heads are 4-8" with steady side shoot production after main head is harvested.