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 Green Salad Bowl is a decorative rosette type of lettuce with closely set crispy leaves. This looseleaf lettuce's crumpled leaves hold water very well, making it a popular variety!

The Bronze Mignonette has been a popular heirloom lettuce for over 100 years! This variety is a heat tolerant lettuce that is slow bolting. Bronze Mignette gets its name for having a bronze tint. The lettuce heads reach 8" across with crumply, crisp leaves. This variety looks and tastes in salads and on sandwiches.

The Red Salad Bowl is a very popular loose-leaf heirloom lettuce that is heat resistant. This variety is an appealing, slow bolting deep red leaf lettuce with finely divided leaves. The Red Salad Bowl has a sweet and tender flavor and is a colorful delight for many dishes and salads! This variety is a favorite for being quick grow and great for cut and come again harvesting.

The Tabasco Pepper is a very hot pepper that is most known for its fantastic spicy flavor in hot sauces! This pepper variety turns green to red when mature and grows to a size of .5" x 1.5." Tabasco reaches 30,000+ Scovilles!

Riverside is a smooth spinach with dark green leaves. Grown mostly for its spade-shaped baby leaf harvesting. Riverside produces at normal rates with an upright plant habit. Excellent for growers who want premium quality product. Riverside is also very resistant to downy mildew.

One of our favorite peppers! If you like sweet peppers with a slight spicy kick, then the Cajun Belle is for you! This variety is a great small bell pepper that is an All American Selection winner. Cajun Belle matures early and is a very heavy yielder that bears 2 by 3 inch, 3-4 lobed fruit. This pepper's flavor really sets it apart from the pack with a sweet start that ends in a burst of spice that's not too hot. We found this charmer to be superb for both fresh eating and making salsa at either the green stage, or when ripened to red!

Wonder is a new artichoke variety that offers yields early and often! Plants are about 90-120cm tall, with most of the heads being pear-shaped and firm. Wonder F1 has excellent quality for both the fresh markets and for commercial use.

The Long Red Slim Cayenne Pepper is a traditional medium heat cayenne pepper with a great flavor! This variety is a long and thin pepper that produces unbelievably high yields. These peppers will mature red and are wrinkled with a mixture of straight and curly fruits. Long Red Slim is excellent for drying, pickling and fresh eating to spice up your chili or salsa. This pepper plant is bushy and reaches 26" tall.

The Early Cascade Tomato is an early maturing bright red saladette type of tomato that has a wonderful fresh taste in salads! This very productive variety produces little 4 ounce vibrant tomatoes in clusters of 5-8 fruits.

The Big Rainbow is one of the most beautiful tomatoes to watch grow to maturity. This tomato turns from green, to a yellow-centered, red-bottomed young fruit and then to a gold-and-red sunset color when mature. The Big Rainbow is a very beautiful and absolutely large tomato that has an over-the-top flavor that you just can't get enough of!

The Red Bhut Jolokia (Ghost Pepper) is among the world's hottest pepper! In 2006, the Guinness Book of Records confirmed that New Mexico State University had discovered the world's hottest chile pepper, the wrinkled, scarlet Bhut Jolokia. At 1,001,304 Scoville Heat Units (SHU), the Red Bhut Jolokia is nearly twice as hot as Red Savina, the Chile pepper variety it replaced as the world's hottest. In comparison, a New Mexico Green chile contains about 1,500 SHUs and an average jalapeno measures at about 10,000 SHUs. Use with caution.

The Oakleaf Lettuce gets its name for having very tender leaves that resemble the white oak leaf. This variety is an old time favorite that tastes great in mixed salads. The Oakleaf is perfect for planting late in the season. This lettuce will stay tasty and non-bitter well into the heat of summer!

The Paul Robeson Tomato is an old fashioned Russian heirloom that has a very tasty flesh that is juicy with a great acid and sweet balance. This deep maroon colored variety is slightly flattened and round and grows up to 4." The Paul Robeson Tomato is an excellent choice for cooler growing regions.

Sorrento is a speedy maturing broccoli that is reliable for fall or late winer growing. This is our favorite Raab for fresh market and home growers. This plant has uniform large florets with bluish-green narrow turnip-shape leaves. It has a tall, upright plant habit and a low bolt tolerance.

The red veined Red Tabby Spinach has beautiful tender smooth leaves. This variety is an excellent baby leaf spinach that does well in spring, fall and winter. Its uniform, smooth leaves grow straight and upright. Red Tabby is also resistant to downy mildew races 1-13.

The Ponderosa Pink Tomato is an extra large and tasty beefsteak with a bright pink hue that is perfect for fresh eating as well as cooked for sauces! This 16 ounce, beefsteak type is almost seedless with low acid.

Hillbilly tomatoes are a vibrant heirloom variety renowned for their eye-catching appearance and rich flavor. These large, beefsteak-type tomatoes feature a striking color pattern of yellow and orange with red marbling, creating a visually stunning fruit that stands out in any garden. When fully ripe, Hillbilly tomatoes develop a sweet, fruity flavor with subtle tangy notes, making them an excellent choice for fresh eating, sandwiches, and salads. They typically take about 80 to 90 days to reach maturity, and the plants exhibit a sprawling, indeterminate growth habit, producing a steady yield of fruit throughout the growing season. The vigorous vines benefit from staking or cage support to manage the heavy fruit and ensure a bountiful harvest. With their unique coloration and exceptional taste, Hillbilly tomatoes offer both visual and culinary appeal, making them a favorite among gardeners and chefs alike.

Yes, these mouth watering fruits are real! White Alpines are white, ornately speckled with red seeds. The unique pineapple flavor and aroma more than make up for the small, bite-size fruits. Easily could be a kid's favorite mini-berry to pick and snack. Once you try one of these mouth watering fruits you will have them in your garden for years to come!