These Are the Best Seeds to Start in January

It may be cold outside, but these are the plants you've got to start indoors in January to make the most of your 2024 growing season. Now, I don't know about you, but in January, I am looking for light. I'm looking for green. I'm looking for hope. This month is a challenge for me when the days are so, so short, the darkness seems to never leave, and, you know, every single morning I'm just, like, waiting and hoping that I hear a bird chirping and it's just not happening. So if you're watching, you're listening, and you're looking for a little ray of hope, then I have it for you. And it is the fact that this is the time to start some seeds for your 2024 garden. So we have three categories that I want to introduce to you that you are going to plant for this month, no matter where you live. So some of you may be listening. And you're like, I was when I was in Houston. And you're like, you're always gardening. The garden is always open. And the, the winter time is really more like a springtime. These can also still be started indoors for you. You're just going to bump them out to the garden a lot earlier than the rest of us. If you're in a more like, temperate climate, like I am now in Nashville, this is super important for you. You want to get these started right away so that they're ready to move out into the garden in about 60 days. And even if. Hear me out. Even if it is freezing where you live, if you're in a colder climate, these still can be started indoors, and they can move out into the garden either under cover, under a cold frame, or they can even be nurtured and nursed indoors until your garden finally defrosts. So the first category we're going to cover, you guessed it. You know, I'm obsessed. I'm waiting. Do you know what it is? It's herbs. So the herbs are going to be the first things you're going to start indoors. Now, hear me out. You can absolutely just go out to the store and buy these, but you're going to know so much more about the quality of these plants and the likelihood of your plants making it, surviving and doing well and being the best they could be goes way up when you're in charge. Trust me on this one. So the herbs you're going to be starting indoors right now are going to be a mix of perennial herbs, plus a few annuals. Let me explain. So the Mint plant family, also known as lamiaceae, that includes about 90, 95% of the herbs that we grow that we eat in our kitchen and about 99,5% of the herbs we grow in the garden. So these are going to be slow to grow from seed. Emphasis on the slow. And so that's why, starting right now, planting these as soon as you possibly can is critical. In fact, by the time you're listening to this, it might already be, you know, you could have started these two, three weeks ago. So, so these are going to be slow growing from seed. They're also most of them, with the exception of maybe one or two. The seeds are so tiny. So it's a little bit of a challenge to get just one seed into every cell as you start these out. But these are going to include, first of all, rosemary. So fun and fragrant and awesome to grow from seed. Oregano, sage, thyme. And then those are the main four. Those are like my base four. I always, always have sage, thyme, oregano and rosemary. Then if you want to branch out, if you're one of those foodies and you like some extra flavors, you could do marjoram, winter savory, summer savory, any of the other perennials in that mint plant family, the Lamiaceae plant family. So those need to be started by seed like yesterday. Because oregano, rosemary, thyme and sage, those are all slow growing herbs. So they're going to take quite a bit to go from seed to a plant that's large enough to, to substantiate. You actually like pulling it out of the cell and putting it into a container or into your raised bed, kitchen, gardens. So if you don't start with anything else, if you are like, I'm not ready to go all day, go there with my planting yet. You have to at least start these herb seeds. Now let's go to the annuals. So you got the perennials, rosemary, sage, thyme and sage. Those are our essentials. And then we have a couple of annuals. You could start right now as well. And that's going to be cilantro, dill and parsley. These are in the Apiaceae plant family, the carrot plant family. They can all go out into the garden as plants, even when there's a chance of frost. So as soon as your soil is workable, these plants can make their way to the garden. So we need a jumpstart, right? We got to get these going indoors so that we can make the most of them when our outdoor space opens up. So dill and cilantro are going to grow pretty quickly from seed. Parsley I found, at least in my experience, is a little bit more of a slow grower. So if you're going to pick one to prioritize, give your parsley more space. The good news is parsley lasts the longest. So it's one of those funny things where it's like, I'm going to make you pay at the beginning. Like, you're going to have to be patient for me, but then it's going to pay off. So you pay hard at the beginning, but then it really pays off. Just today I was in my garden. Most things have died. The cilantro and the dill are long gone, but the parsley I planted way back in February, it's still there. I just picked some this morning for an omelette, so it's well worth the wait. So parsley, dill, and cilantro, those seeds need to go into the garden or go into some soil starting mix, some seed, starting mix right away, with the emphasis and the priority on the parsley because it takes the longest. So those are the key herbs. I would start from seed right now. Now, the only other one that I would add to this in the herb categories would be some chives. Chives do grow pretty easily from seed, but I'll be honest, I usually buy my chives as a plant from the growers. One reason is because I haven't had success growing them by seed, so that's a good reason. The other is I just find they're too slow to take off. And in the time that I would take nursing and, you know, nurturing and stressing over getting that little tiny onion like seed to grow into a full chive plant, I can drive down to my local nursery and literally buy about 20. So you decide. But if you do want to try your hand at growing it, absolutely worth it. The chives will come back year after year. You can divide them, they multiply like, do this once, make it happen once, and you're set with chives for life, not even exaggerating one single bit. All right, moving on to the next category. And that is going to be your large, cool season plants. So if you've been around gardenary for a while, you know that I love to categorize plants. This helps my crazy brain keep it all organized. And so first, we got our cool season. So these are plants that don't mind frost. They thrive in frost. They are frost tolerant. They're frost resistant. They can handle some frost, y'. All. Okay, so that's the first category. They have to be frost tolerant or resistant. Second is that they're a large plant. This is a plant that's going to need 90, 100 plus days to go from seed to harvest. We want to start these indoors or buy them as plants from the nursery. Reason being we are going to have somewhat of a, you know, abbreviated cool season. We may have 60, we may have 90 days. And then as soon as our last fraud frost date passes, those things are on. I mean, the time is ticking, the clock is ticking and we don't know how much longer that plant can stay in the garden. And so we want to get a jump start and really put a plant into the garden rather than a seed when we can finally dig into the soil and get things going. So these are going to be large plants in the cool season. So, you know, my favorite kale. Yeah. Is kale. So Toscano kale, red Russian kale, purple kale, Scotch, something blue curled Scotch, kale, kale, kale, kale. Again, you can start any kind of kale you want. This past year I tried some new varieties. Will not be growing them again because they just weren't as good. But I will forever. Stan Toscano kale, like, I will do it forever. And also blue Scotch curled. Those two are my faves. They're all still growing in my garden. And I started these from seed way, way back in January. So take it from me, January to December, same seed that I started. That's so cool. Right? So kale next step would be some other brassicas, like mustards, bok choy, and then the fruiting ones. So broccoli, cauliflower, that really alien looking one, the Romanesco, whatever that's called, and then cabbages. So all of Those greens need 90, 100 plus days in the garden. And they're all in the brassica plant family. So you can just literally run around and get all those seeds and they're all going to be going into some seed starting mix right away this month so that they're ready to go out to the garden when it's time. So if you're in Houston, if you're like in a warm area, they could go out. Like you could literally go buy those plants right now and stick them in your garden. If you start them indoors, you want to rush the process like you want them to get to a plantable size as fast as possible and get them out into the garden by February because temps are going to start to rise. And as soon as things start hitting the 80s and the 90s, these plants, except for the kale, are not going to be loving life. But if you're in mild climate, like I'm here in Nashville, these need to move out into the garden beginning at the beginning of February, and they can go out as late as March. And then if you're in a colder climate, like I was in Chicago, then you're going to put these out right around the middle of March, about 60 days before your last frost date, which is right around Mother's Day. So I failed to list one more large green for the cool season, and that is my bay Swiss chard, the most beautiful plant. I think I would put it all over my lawn if I could, but Swiss chard is so beautiful. It's actually in the Amaranthaceae family, the goosefoot, the spinach family. That one needs to be started indoors as well, because it takes a while to take off. But again, just like the parsley slow to come and then just boom. I mean, it's leaf after leaf after leaf for, like, for so long. You can have these in the garden. In a mild climate, you could have them year round. So those are the next sets of plants that you want to be starting by seed indoors in January. Now, our last category are going to be what I call slow growing, warm season plants. So these are not going to move out to the garden until after the last frost has passed, unless you've got special situations like a greenhouse or a cold frame or something like that. But these aren't going to go outside for quite some time. These are just slow movers, you know what I'm saying? They, like, take forever to wake up. So every year I wait too long to start. Peppers. I don't know why I can't get it through my head. Peppers are. They need a lot of time. I don't know what it is about peppers, but they. They want to. They want to. They want a long, long, long time to wake up. And then even when they do wake up, they need the conditions just right in order to grow quickly. So peppers, eggplants, and tomatoes. Now, if you're starting these indoors in January, like I'm telling you to, because you're listening, you're going to need a heat mat. You're going to need some form of heat. Because these plants, if they're feeling like it's 40, 45, 50, 55 even, you know, low 60s, they're like, it's not my time yet. Like, this is not for me, there might still be a frost and I don't want to die. And so we have to trick them into thinking, like, no, no, no, seriously, it is spring. Like, the frost has gone. You can do your thing now. And so you're going to need some way to adjust the temperature so that those seeds believe that. That it's warm, even though we know in our hearts that it is very, very cold. So these are the three categories. These are the types of seeds that you want to be starting in January. Perennial and annual herbs. We gave you the full list. I'll give it to you again. Rosemary, sage, thyme, oregano. Those are the critical four. Okay. Do not do your garden this year without those four. Pretty, pretty please. And then you can add in some cilantro, dill, and parsley. You're gonna love those flavors and be so proud of the fact that you grow them yourself. Then next we have our large, cool season plants. We've got all the brassicas except for, like, arugula and radishes. So mustards, buff bok, choy, tatsoi, collards, kale, of course, cabbages, broccoli, cauliflower, romanesco, Those are all starting from seed now. Plus our beautiful and lovely Swiss chard is happening as well. And then finally, the slow growing warm plants. So tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, and maybe a few from the cucurbit family that you know are going to take a really long time to get going in your garden. If you're wanting to do, like, some major gourds or like, you want to be like the blue ribbon winner for the pumpkin contest this year, that's a good one to get started indoors as well. So January may be freezing cold. There may be snow up to your front door. You may be like, so. So over winter already. And this is your therapy, you guys. I just, like, this is the answer. Okay? So this is how we get through these last few cold and dark months. We start dreaming and planning and planting for the spring season. Because, believe it or not, it is like, we are. We are just in time. This is not like being the early bird. Okay? So these are just in time plantings. If you get these planted in January, they'll be ready just in time, not early at all. So you're not pushing the limits. You're not doing anything crazy here. You're literally doing things at the time they need to get done. So if you want details on how to grow all these things, they're all inside my book, leaves, roots, and fruit. This came out in 2023, and it is the complete guide to step by step gardening. So step number two is all about growing herbs and it starts you from seed. Step three is all about growing greens. You got kale and mustard and all those good things in there. And then the slow growing plants for the warm season. Tomatoes, peppers, eggplants. That's step number seven. So that's covered in this book as well. So you do not have to grow alone. You can get instruction to do all of it right here. And then finally, we have a fantastic resource for you to help you grow all year long. And that is our 2024 Gardenary Plan planting calendar. So this is a customizable resource. You give me two dates and I do the rest of the work for you. So you put in your two dates. I'm going to tell you every single day that you need to be planting in 2024 in order to make the most of this year. So it's completely free. You can grab it@gardenary.com podcast all right, there you have it. The types of plants, the seeds you got to put into some dirt this month in order to have the most fantabulous garden for 2024. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go get my hands dirty and plant it up because I haven't done this yet. So I got to follow my own instructions. Thanks so much for listening. Thanks for being part of Gardenary and thanks for growing yourself right alongside me. I'll see you next time. Thanks so much for listening to the Grow youw Self podcast. You can keep listening anywhere. You love getting your podcast delivered on Apple, podcasts, on Spotify, iHeartRadio, you name it, we are there for you. And if you want to read the notes and get our free resources to help you grow more, you can go to gardenary.com podcast.