Laura Young
ECB Publishing, Inc.
"When the world wearies and society fails to satisfy, there is always the garden." – Minnie Aumonier
Over the past few weeks, we've had snow flurries, icy gales, heavy frosts and hours upon hours of sub-freezing temps.
Yet, no matter which gardening guide or chart I consult, the list for things to plant in February in North Florida is longer than for any other month. Really?! This comes perhaps from overlapping end-of-winter crops with early spring possibilities (Lunar New Year is Feb. 17 this year) plus all the seeds you can start indoors now for transplanting later.
The end of February could get quite busy in the garden. What better place to shake off the winter chill and sow seeds of springtime hope. Or, as artist/poet Minnie Aumonier once wrote, “When the world wearies and society fails to satisfy, there is always the garden.”
Get your work gloves on!
What to plant in February: Some of you may already have started tomato seeds indoors, and if so you can set them out this month as long as you protect them from frost. It's also an okay time to transplant arugula, chives, kale, spinach, mustard greens, strawberries and Swiss chard.
You can now directly sow seeds for peas, chives, arugula, carrots, kale, spinach, beets, turnips, radishes, lettuce and Swiss chard. Plus, you can put in potatoes, which many people plant around Valentine's Day. Seed potatoes are already available from numerous nearby suppliers; I've bought mine and started the “greensprouting” process a couple of weeks ago.
To have your own transplants for warmer weather crops down the road, you can set up trays indoors now and get a head start on eggplant, peppers, cucumbers, melons, summer squash, winter squash, basil, chard and lettuce. Then once you're sure we're past frosty weather, they'll be ready to go in the ground, and you won't have to wait for nurseries to get them in stock.
What's coming along: I'm pretty excited to see leaves emerging from an elephant garlic clove I planted a few weeks ago. It withstood the recent blasts of winter without protection and is making its place near a patch of arugula sprouts that also were unfazed by the freezes. The second succession of Swiss chard has sprouted while the first one has just gotten big enough to harvest. So...
What are we eatin' in February? Swiss chard! This beautiful and bright leafy green really stands out in wintertime salads, next to the pale crunchiness of romaine lettuce and the velvety green of baby spinach. Swiss chard plants have bright red stems that carry their pigment right up into the veins of the leaves. When tender, you can just toss them straight into the salad bowl. A simple way to cook larger leaves involves chopping the stems up and sautéing them first in some olive oil. Then add the chopped leaves along with some minced garlic and cook until tender. Before serving, squeeze on some lemon and season with salt and pepper to taste.
Swiss chard in a relative of spinach and beets that packs a powerful dose of vitamin K (477% the daily value!), which helps your blood to clot. As such, its benefits come with a cautionary note for people who take blood thinners. Other benefits include a helpful dose of vitamins A, C and E along with magnesium, copper, manganese, iron and potassium. It also contains lutein and zeaxanthin, which are nutrients for healthy eyes.
What's tempting me: I'd like to focus on growing more heirloom and open-pollenated varieties whose seeds can be saved to plant the next season. Some sources call this process “closed-loop gardening,” where the things you need to grow your food are on hand rather than purchased. It's one way of keeping the cost of gardening manageable but also tuning in ever more with the cycles of nature. I'll be able to get started when it's time to plant okra. I allowed some of my Clemson okra pods to fully mature last fall, making sure they were dried out and cracking open to reveal blackened seeds inside before picking them. This could be more exciting than harvesting okra to cook!
IN THE FEATURED PHOTO: Swiss chard makes a beautiful, nutrient-packed addition to a winter salad. ECB Publishing, Inc. Photo by Laura Young, February 6, 2026