Zone 7 - What to Plant in January

Zone 7 - What to Plant in January

January is go time for zone 7 gardeners. 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 Beaver Dam Pepper is a delicious pepper that makes a great for stuffed peppers or adding to sandwiches. This pepper variety was brought from Hungary to Beaver Dam, Wisconsin in 1912 by the Joe Hussli family. Beaver Dam ripens from green to orange to red with just a touch of a tangy heat flavor!

The Noble Giant is an old heirloom that was an All-America Selections Winner in 1933. This spinach variety produces huge, dark green leaves with a very delicious flavor. This spinach is great in salads, cooked, canned or frozen. The Noble Giant is slow to bolt and is very easy to grow, making it perfect the perfect spinach for the home gardener!

The Ghost Mix is a blend of some of the world's hottest peppers! Use with caution! This mix is a wonderful blend of red, yellow, purple, white and chocolate Bhut Jolokia (Ghost) pepper seeds that can reach over 1,000,000 Scoville Heat Units (SHU).

The Corno Di Toro Mix Pepper is an old-time Italian sweet frying pepper! This pepper is nicknamed the "bull's horn" for its distinctive horn shape. This pepper variety plant bears 8" fruits mature to red (Rosso) and yellow (Giallo). The Corno Di Toro Mix is a combination of Corno Di Toro Giallo and Corno Di Toro Rosso. The Corno Di Toro Mix is a great cooking pepper variety!

Fragaria vesca, commonly known as Woodland Strawberries, are one of the oldest strawberry species cultivated and enjoyed in Europe, dating back to ancient Roman times. These petite berries are prized for their intensely sweet, aromatic flavor that far surpasses most modern commercial strawberries, with a soft texture and rich perfume-like scent. They are naturally small—often no larger than a fingernail—and grow on compact plants that produce delicate white flowers followed by bright red berries. Woodland strawberries thrive in forests, meadows, and shaded garden edges, spreading by runners and forming attractive low-growing mats, making them both ornamental and delicious.

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!

Isis Candy tomatoes are a captivating heirloom variety prized for their unique and beautiful appearance. These cherry tomatoes are known for their striking color pattern, featuring vibrant red and yellow stripes that give them an eye-catching look. Each tomato is small, round, and glossy, with a juicy texture and a delightful burst of sweet and tangy flavor. The taste is rich and complex, making them a popular choice for salads and fresh dishes. Isis Candy tomatoes have a relatively short growing season, typically reaching maturity in about 75 days, making them a great option for gardeners looking for a quick yet rewarding harvest. Their exceptional flavor, combined with their stunning appearance, makes them a standout in any garden.

Black Cherry tomatoes are a sought-after heirloom variety known for their distinctive appearance and exceptional taste. Originating from a blend of traditional cherry tomato varieties, this cultivar has become popular for its rich, dark color and robust flavor. The tomatoes are small, typically about the size of a marble, with a deep, dusky purple to black hue that turns almost mahogany when fully ripe. Their flavor is renowned for its sweet, complex taste with subtle hints of smokiness, making them a delightful addition to salads, snacking, and gourmet dishes. Black Cherry tomatoes usually reach maturity in about 60 to 70 days, making them one of the quicker-maturing cherry varieties. The plants exhibit an indeterminate growth habit, producing fruit continuously throughout the growing season and requiring staking or caging to support their vigorous, sprawling vines. With their attractive color, rich flavor, and prolific yield, Black Cherry tomatoes are a favorite among gardeners and culinary enthusiasts seeking both beauty and taste.

The Selway is a Lolla Rossa type lettuce with beautiful light green and dark purple coloring. This variety has deeply curled loose leaves with frilled dark-purple edges edges. The Selway is an essential in salad mixes for its color and taste. For baby leaf production, this variety can be harvested in 30 days and for full sized leaves, it can be harvested in 55 days and can be cut repeatedly!

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.

Strawberry Spinach is a delicious fruit that is almost entirely edible. A beautiful plant with showy leaves and berries. It's triangular toothed leaves and tender shoots are great for salads. Shiny red mulberry-like fruits are edible and can be added to salads. Grown in Europe for centuries.

An early cabbage with a blue-green color. Produces beautiful globe-shaped heads that have a blueish color. Very good holding ability. 3-5 lb. heads produced on low, compact plants. First introduced by Harris Moran.

The Tropic VFN Tomato is a beautiful, large and firm red variety with a delicious juicy flavor that is perfect for greenhouse production! This variety is disease tolerant in hot humid climates.

Federle tomatoes, also known as Federle's Italian Paste, are a unique and heirloom variety of tomato renowned for their distinctive characteristics and rich history. These tomatoes typically exhibit a medium-sized, elongated shape, resembling a classic Roma tomato. Their size can range from 3 to 5 inches in length, making them ideal for canning, sauces, and paste production. Federle tomatoes thrive in specific growing conditions. They require full sun exposure and well-drained, fertile soil to flourish. These tomatoes are known for their resilience and adaptability, making them suitable for various climates and regions. They are often treasured by gardeners for their consistent performance and robust growth, making them a reliable choice for home gardeners and small-scale farmers. The history of Federle tomatoes dates back to Italy, where they have been cultivated for generations. These tomatoes were brought to the United States by Italian immigrants in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Since then, they have become a cherished heirloom variety, cherished for their exceptional flavor and versatility in the kitchen. Federle tomatoes are a testament to the enduring legacy of traditional tomato cultivation and continue to be a favorite among those who appreciate the rich heritage and exceptional taste of heirloom vegetables.

The Red Zebra is not only a beautifully striped hybrid tomato, but it also has a very juicy and flavorful taste as well! This variety was first grown in 2013 by Jeff Dawson and is a cross between Tom Wagner's 'Green Zebra' tomato and an unknown parent.

The Salsa Pepper is a mid-early variety of sweet Kapia for open field and greenhouse production. This pepper variety is very strong and productive, with good flower setting in warm climates. These peppers are relatively short and wide with thick juicy walls. Salsa is suitable for roasting, grilling, fresh market consumption and of course for making a sweet salsa!

The Chocolate Scotch Bonnet pepper adds the perfect heat to any sauce or salsa! This really hot pepper has a sweet fruity slightly smoky flavor, but with a lot of heat! The spiciness is comparable to a chocolate habanero. The Chocolate Scotch Bonnet ripens from green to dark brown and can grow to be as big as 2 inches.

The Yellow Scotch Bonnet, aka the Jamaican, produces an abundance of little yellow peppers with an extremely hot flavor! Some say that this pepper's flavorful taste is rivaling that of many Habanero's. This hot variety has an excellent flavor making them popular for hot sauces. The Yellow Scotch Bonnet produces well-yielding, compact plants.