What to do in JANUARY for your Vegetable Garden

Are you thinking about starting a Vegetable Garden? I’m creating a new series that will help you with your vegetable garden. At the beginning of each month, I’ll post a video on this series so you can have a successful gardening year and an abundance of food.

I live in South Texas, zone 9a, so this will be applied based on your months temperatures. January average temperature here is 35-65F.

I’ve separated the tasks by 3 Categories:

CATEGORY #1 - Things TO DO

This is the time to build your raised beds. In 2020, there was lumber shortages due to the high rise of home building. Lumber was more expensive. Keep in mind: you don’t have to make raised beds like mine – you only need to raise the ground level 6-12″.
1. Anything that involves intensive labor – you want cooler weather.
  1. If you have temps in the 50s, this is perfect weather.
2. You want to have your beds ready for Spring
  1. I’m giving you plenty of time to get them ready!
3. You want to have time for your soil to settle
  1. Fill to brim and wait for a heavy rain day to review how much more soil you need. Leave 2″ from the brim so water doesn’t spill over.
Start your composting – this will give you a few months to have compost ready *you have material from fall*
1. Rake all the dry leaves
  1. Make sure ground hasn’t been treated with toxic fertilizers
2. Winter Pruning
  1. I’ve pruned my backyard orchard – check it out here.
3. Product from cleaning the vegetable beds
  1. Retired plants
4. Purchase a Worm Farm (little space and fast producing)
  1. You have to be ‘OK’ with Red Wigglers. It takes a little time to adjust but it is SO worth it. I’ve purchased mine – check out the video here.
  2. Start collecting food scraps.
    1. Freeze them or leave a container in the fridge for them.
If you have seeds, read the back of your seeds and separate them by:
1. Season – check out book ‘Kitchen Garden Revival‘ that has good information on seasonal harvest.
2. Sowing
  1. Indoor/Outdoor
    1. Indoor – When to transplant
      1. Example 3-4 wks, 6-8 weeks, etc.
    2. Outdoor – make sure they are Frost Tolerant
3. Create Labels
  1. Tedious task – stay ahead of them
4. Take Inventory

CATEGORY #2 - WHAT TO PURCHASE

Seeds (buy local)
1. Seed Storage
Soil amendments *if your climate allows you to sow in January* – The sooner you can start on the soil the better because it takes time to build the best soil.
1. Compost
2. Castings/Manure
  1. I have purchased Worm Castings and Rabbit manure (first time trying)
Gardening Pots
1. For inexpensive, first time gardeners, I would recommend bags with handles.
Indoor Light System and Supplies. CaliKim has a great book on this.
1. Seed Starting Mix
2. Trays / Cups / Recycled containers
Structures (split cost between 3 months)
1. Arches or Supplies for DIY
2. Obelisks
3. Cages
4. Trellis
Fruit Trees
1. Buy Local
2. Order Dormant Trees online
  1. Jan/Feb only (sooner if you have early freezing temperatures)
    1. www.groworganic.com

CATEGORY #3 - IN THE GARDEN

Direct Sow (60 days):

~~~Check the weather and make sure there isn’t a high chance of rain~~~
~~~Plant densely – you run the risk of mold and mildew during this time~~~

Root Crops
1. Carrots
2. Radish (Germinates @38F)
3. Beets (1-2 wks to germinate)
Herbs
1. Celery (Germinates @40F)
2. Fennel
3. Parsley
4. Cilantro
5. Dill
Peas
Lettuce (can grow through May)
1. Swiss Chard
2. Spinach (2-4wks to germinate)
3. Kale

Indoor Seeds:

Tomatoes
Peppers
Lavender
Celery
Eggplant
Onions
Snapdragons

Starts:

Brassicas
1. Broccoli
2. Cauliflower
3. Brussel Sprouts
4. Cabbage
Strawberries

Play Video