5 Seeds I Plant Every January

If you're waiting till spring to start thinking about your garden, I've got some bad news. All the things that you see thriving in my garden in the spring, those are from seeds I bought and started in January. But the good news is you're seeing this video in January, and it's not too late to start. Over the next few minutes, I'm going to show you the five seeds that you should buy and start in January, no matter where you live, if you're in a cool climate, a warm climate, or a mild climate. So let's get into it. We're going to cover the cool climate first. If you live in a cool climate, it is probably freezing where you live in January, and your ground is frozen solid, covered with ice and snow. But you can create your own warm, planty environment indoors as you start to get ready for the growing season. So the first thing you want to think about starting in January are your perennial herbs. These are herbs that may have died back the year before that you definitely want to have in your garden. The biggest one that you want to do is rosemary. This was a perennial herb that I enjoyed in warmer climates, but in my Chicago garden, it died back every year. So if this is the case for you in a cold climate, be sure you start rosemary this month in January. The next one I love starting from seed, is sage. Sage is an herb that grows really quickly and easily from seed. Some of the others are a little bit more difficult. I'm looking at you, oregano. This one is absolutely worth starting from seed this month so that the plant is big enough to move out into your garden in March. Once you've started those perennial herbs, it's time to think about those large greens. Those are going to take 100, 120 days to mature in the garden. You want to start those indoors right now. I know it's freezing, but trust me on this one. The first one is cabbages. Cabbages need to be started indoors, even if you live in a cold climate, because they're going to take over 100 days to mature in the garden. You need these little plants to go out in the garden in late February, early March, so that you get a nice big cabbage head before it warms up in May or June. My favorite is napa cabbage or Chinese cabbage, but all the cabbages should be started this month indoors, even if it's freezing outside. And the next one is kale. Kale? Yeah. I love starting kale indoors in January. When. When I do this in my Chicago garden, I got kale starting in late March, all the way through the next December. It is absolutely worth taking up a little bit of space and time to plant some kale this month. These plants need to be pretty mature to put out in your garden in March. As soon as the frost lifts a little bit and your soil starts to warm up, you want to move these plants out. They are frost tolerant, but you want to get a jump start on the season right now with kale. And finally, it's time to start onions. Onions can be started from seed indoors, and they take a very long time to grow from seed, but it is 100% worth the time and investment. So start onion seeds indoors right now. You'll give them a couple little haircuts before you move them out in early March, and then by the end of the summer, you're going to have the most delicious onions you've ever tasted. So these are five seeds. You got to start even if it's freezing outside. All right. If you are in a mild climate where you have a good four seasons every single year, you do get pretty cold in the winter, but it's going to warm up in February or very early March. Then these are the seeds I would be starting indoors right now. You can definitely start those perennial herbs that the cool climate gardeners are starting as well. But you can also get a head start on these annual herbs that are my favorites. So cilantro. I know you may not like the taste, but you should at least grow it for the ladybugs. Cilantro. Cilantro is an herb that's great to start indoors in January so you can move it out early February. Cilantro is a cold loving herb. If you've had it, bolt and go to seed immediately after planting. You planted it too late. So the secret is getting this plant into the garden very early. And the way to do that is to buy the seeds and start them right away. The next is parsley. Parsley is an annual herb. It can go two or three years in the garden if it doesn't get too cold. And. And it's slow to start from seed, too slow to start it directly into the garden. It needs to be started indoors this month so you can move it outdoors next. Parsley is frost tolerant, so it's going to be able to go in the garden really early. But you want the jump start of starting it indoors right away. All right, let's cover my greens. You know I love my greens. First is cabbage. It's not too late to start some cabbages indoors in January. If you're in a mild climate. I go with napa cabbage because it just matures much more quickly, and I love the texture of this cabbage. But even heading cabbages, you could probably still start in January, although December is really the ideal time for a mild season. Gardener. The next green is kale. Kale can be started right now, this month, so you can move it out into the garden by late February. Your plants are not going to be really nice and big, but they'll be able to get a jump start. And this is a green that's worth getting the jump start on. You're going to have so many harvests for. You're going to get a huge ROI just from planting a few seeds indoors this month. And if you haven't started these already, it's also time for you to start onions. Onions are a huge way to get lots of production from the garden without doing a lot of work. And you're going to have a much higher quality harvest than you'd be able to get from the grocery store. Organic onions are hard to come by and they're hard to keep, but if you grow your own, you're going to see a huge difference. So these are the five seeds you should definitely be starting. If you live in a mild climate and get on it because time is ticking, the soil is going to be warming before you know it. If you're growing in a warm climate, oh my goodness, what do you not start in January? You need to get a move on because February is the time to be planting your warm season plants outside. I know, it's crazy. When I gardened in Houston, Texas, we planted tomatoes like a plant on Valentine's Day. So time is ticking. You need to get the seeds started right away. You want to be focused on plants that need a lot of time to mature in the garden that you want to get a jump on in early spring. Because if you live in a warm climate, it's going to be heating up fast by May, definitely by early June. The temps are honestly too high to get high production on a lot of these warm season plants. So now is the time to buy the seeds, start, start them indoors so you can move them out and be ready to grow in February. So first up, our tomatoes. Of course, if you haven't started these yet, we talked about this in December. Did you miss that video? Be sure you subscribe so you don't miss the planting plans every month. Okay, guys, so this is what you want to start this month. If you haven't done tomatoes yet, start these tomatoes by Seed in January. The next is eggplants. They are also very slow growing, but they need a lot of time in the garden as mature plants. So perfect time to start these indoors. And then of course, peppers, jalapenos, bell peppers, shishita peppers, all the peppers. Time to start these. These are even slower, if you can believe it, than eggplants and tomatoes. So all three of these are in the nightshade family, they're in the Solanaceae family. And they all need to be started indoors in January if you're growing in a warm climate. So once you've covered those fruiting plants, those large fruiting plants, you want to think about the first flowers. There are so many flowers that can start growing in the warm climate as early as February. Zinnias are one of them. So as soon as you get out of frost, which is coming very soon, you may not even have frost, then you want to plant these outdoors as mature little seedlings. You're going to get loads of blooms. Huge roi on zinnia seeds. And now's the time to get these started if you live in a warm climate. Last up, not least is basil. Oh, my favorite herb in the whole world. So basil is only going to grow when it's frost free outside, but frost free dates are coming for you if they're not here already. And it's definitely worth getting your basil started indoors so that you can cover your entire garden with basil, because who wouldn't want to do that? I found that basil from the nursery or garden centers is always subpar. I don't like the flavor and, and I find that those plants are the most likely to get mold or mildew or just not do well in the garden. But the basil I start indoors myself always thrives. So start growing your own basil this month so that you're ready to put it out in the garden next month when there's no more chance of frost. So, warm season gardeners, what are you even doing watching this video? You need to get going and plant all these seeds. We've got tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, zinnias and basil for you, and loads of other things that you should start planting right away to be ready for the warm season. Congratulations. You have made it to the end of this video, which means you are now ready to make the most of January and not miss your spring garden. If you like the idea of not missing things, then you cannot miss the Garden in Five live event. If you're watching this before January 11, 2025, then you have to join me in just a few days, we're going to have the best day together, getting ready for the best year together in the garden. There's going to be prizes and giveaways. I'm going to be teaching all about how to plan your garden, how to take care of your garden, how to plant your garden and eat from your garden. There's going to be some super cool guests that are joining us to surprise you and we're going to be giving away tons of seeds, tools and a huge grand prize. So you can sign up right below this video and not miss the garden in five live. Speaking of not missing, don't miss this book. Five Minute Gardener comes out in just a few days on January 7, 2025. If you haven't gotten your copy yet, please go to the link right below this video and order it. It just costs, I don't know, a few coffees and we have a ton of prizes to give you when you get the book. So check this out and we'll put a link right below this video. Thank you so much for hanging out with me. Listen, it's January. It's just the start of the best year in the garden ever. For me, for you, for all of us. So don't forget to subscribe to the gardenary channel. Tell all your friends and family this is the year we're all going to start the best garden ever. I'll see you next time. Thanks for watching.