Can you believe January is almost over? Since I’m down in Texas, this means we’ve already begun…

seed starting! Woohoo! Two friends and I started our seeds on January 15th, about 8 weeks before our final frost date. In our Jiffy seed starting greenhouses we have tomatoes, peppers, basil, and broccoli, most all of which we purchased from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds. We prefer the Jiffy peat pots over other brands because of the netting they have over the dirt, making it much easier to move around the pots after they have expanded. (You’ll want to buy these at Home Depot or Walmart, though, not online. Much cheaper.)

Hubby and I set up the old garden bed for some square foot gardening using some nails and twine. I set aside every other aisle as a walkway since this one backs up to the fence, but there’s still a TON of room for growing veggies. I planted some lettuce, spinach, carrots, peas, cilantro, dill, and chives (all from seed) last weekend. The weather’s been beautiful recently, but this week it’s going to drop into the 20s, so hopefully the seeds will still germinate.

A few months ago I had a red potato that started sprouting and wrinkling in the pantry. I didn’t want to throw it away, and I remembered reading about potato bags, so I thought I’d try it out. It’s pretty easy – pour some dirt in a bag, cut up potato so each eye is on its own piece, stick it in. Done.

Lo and behold, they started growing. This picture is two months old; the greens are huge now. Something keeps poking around in the bag (Chase, I’m talking to you!), so I keep re-burying the potatoes, but last time I found some tiny, round red potatoes. As in, potatoes are actually growing! Root vegetables can be hard because you can’t see what is going on under the ground, so I’m very excited to know that there are tiny potatoes growing in my bag.

What are you growing this year?