What to plant in February: zone 8b

Chit potatoes in a bright, cool spot for 2 weeks. Sprouted pieces jump ahead once planted.

6 weeks of indoor growth before your last frost (03-20). Bury 2/3 of the transplant stem. Roots form along the buried stem for a stronger plant.

6 weeks of indoor growth before your last frost (03-20). Fall crop sweetens after first frost. Plan a July sowing for the best flavor.

6 weeks of indoor growth before your last frost (03-20). After cutting the main head, side shoots keep coming for weeks: don't pull the plant.

6 weeks of indoor growth before your last frost (03-20). Pinch flower spikes the moment you see them: leaves stay sweet all season.

6 weeks of indoor growth before your last frost (03-20). Firm heads need steady water and steady nitrogen. Once a head feels solid, cut it: leaving it in summer heat splits it open overnight.

6 weeks of indoor growth before your last frost (03-20). Cauliflower is the fussiest brassica: any check in water or nitrogen makes it button into a tiny head. Blanch white types by tying outer leaves over the curd.

6 weeks of indoor growth before your last frost (03-20). This is a fall crop: frost is what turns the sprouts sweet. Around 4 weeks before harvest, top the growing tip so the plant pushes size into the sprouts.

6 weeks of indoor growth before your last frost (03-20). Harvest the swollen stem at tennis-ball size, no bigger: past that it turns woody and fibrous fast.

6 weeks of indoor growth before your last frost (03-20). It's slower and fussier than cauliflower; give it the longest cool-weather window you can, spring or fall, not summer.

6 weeks of indoor growth before your last frost (03-20). Grows from a small tuberous root that overwinters indoors in pots north of zone 7; pick fruit at grape size for the best crunch.

6 weeks of indoor growth before your last frost (03-20). Plant at least two for pollination: a single tomatillo rarely sets fruit. Husk turns papery and splits when ripe.

6 weeks of indoor growth before your last frost (03-20). Fruit drops when ripe, husk and all: rake or hand-pick off the ground every few days rather than picking from the plant.

6 weeks of indoor growth before your last frost (03-20). Cool fall weather brings out its best deep red color and mellows bitterness; grow it as a fall crop where possible.

6 weeks of indoor growth before your last frost (03-20). Snip flower stalks as they appear to keep leaves tender; the lemony tang fades if the plant is allowed to bolt.

6 weeks of indoor growth before your last frost (03-20). Not a true spinach; it's a vigorous heat-loving vine that replaces greens through the hottest weeks other greens can't survive.

6 weeks of indoor growth before your last frost (03-20). Harvest just before flowering for the best flavor, then shear the whole plant back for a second flush.

6 weeks of indoor growth before your last frost (03-20). Pick flowers at midday once fully open, on a dry day, for the strongest tea; it dries quickly on a screen out of direct sun.

6 weeks of indoor growth before your last frost (03-20). Self-sows aggressively once established; pinch spent flower spikes if you don't want volunteers taking over next spring.

6 weeks of indoor growth before your last frost (03-20). Needs a long, warm, frost-free season to set seed; stake plants, as the thin stalks flop once seed heads fill out.

6 weeks of indoor growth before your last frost (03-20). Self-sows freely once established; use a light hand in cooking, since the flavor is strong and a little goes a long way.

5 weeks of indoor growth before your last frost (03-20). The most forgiving green in the garden. Harvest bottom leaves upward and it produces for months. Leaves picked after a frost are noticeably sweeter.

5 weeks of indoor growth before your last frost (03-20). Grow it as a fall crop where possible: napa bolts in spring heat but forms a tight, sweet head in cooling fall days.

4 weeks of indoor growth before your last frost (03-20). Succession sow every 2 weeks. Harvest outer leaves for a cut-and-come-again supply.

4 weeks of indoor growth before your last frost (03-20). Cut outer stalks 2 in above the crown and the plant keeps producing from spring into hard frost. One planting can feed a household all season.

4 weeks of indoor growth before your last frost (03-20). Okra wants hot soil, 70F+, or seed rots. Pick pods at 3-4 in every other day: one pod left to toughen tells the plant to stop producing.

4 weeks of indoor growth before your last frost (03-20). Bolts fast once days lengthen past 14 hours. Grow it as an early spring or fall crop, not a summer one.

4 weeks of indoor growth before your last frost (03-20). Flowers self-pollinate then push a stalk (peg) into the soil to form the pod underground: keep soil loose around the base.

4 weeks of indoor growth before your last frost (03-20). Pick fruit while still green and firm; left to yellow and split, it turns bitter to the point of inedible.

4 weeks of indoor growth before your last frost (03-20). Pick young for eating like a squash, or leave on the vine until the skin browns and dries for a bath sponge.

4 weeks of indoor growth before your last frost (03-20). Blanch heads by tying outer leaves shut 2 weeks before harvest to mellow the natural bitterness.

4 weeks of indoor growth before your last frost (03-20). Broader and milder than curly endive; a light frost sweetens the outer leaves before harvest.

4 weeks of indoor growth before your last frost (03-20). Soak seed 24 hours before sowing to soften the hard seed coat; it thrives in summer heat that bolts true spinach.

4 weeks of indoor growth before your last frost (03-20). Bolts fast in heat or from a check in growth; keep it evenly watered and harvest the bulb once it's baseball-sized, before it flowers.

3 weeks of indoor growth before your last frost (03-20). Trellis vertically to double yield in the same footprint and cut mildew.

3 weeks of indoor growth before your last frost (03-20). One plant feeds a family. Pick at 6-8 in for the sweetest fruit.

3 weeks of indoor growth before your last frost (03-20). Cure 10 days in a warm dry spot after harvest. The skin toughens and storage doubles.

3 weeks of indoor growth before your last frost (03-20). Ripe = tendril nearest the fruit is brown and the ground spot has turned buttery yellow.

3 weeks of indoor growth before your last frost (03-20). Ripe fruit slips off the vine with a gentle tug. The smell alone tells you.

3 weeks of indoor growth before your last frost (03-20). Count back 100 days from your first frost to time a Halloween harvest. Cure cut pumpkins in the sun for 10 days and leave 3 in of stem so they store for months.

3 weeks of indoor growth before your last frost (03-20). Unlike cantaloupe, honeydew doesn't slip from the vine when ripe; judge by a faint sweet smell and a slight give at the blossom end.

3 weeks of indoor growth before your last frost (03-20). One of the best keepers: cure in the sun 10 days, then store at 55F and it holds for 3-6 months.

3 weeks of indoor growth before your last frost (03-20). Ripe rind resists a fingernail poke and the ground spot has turned orange; harvest before frost damages the skin.

3 weeks of indoor growth before your last frost (03-20). Rind should be uniformly pale yellow, not white or green, before harvest; underripe fruit shreds mushy instead of stringy.

3 weeks of indoor growth before your last frost (03-20). Needs the most space of any winter squash; give it a full corner of the garden or let it run into the lawn edge.

3 weeks of indoor growth before your last frost (03-20). Cure 1-2 weeks after harvest; the starchy flesh actually sweetens in storage over the following month.

3 weeks of indoor growth before your last frost (03-20). The skin is thin enough to eat, so skip the long cure other winter squash need; use it within a month or two of harvest.

3 weeks of indoor growth before your last frost (03-20). Pick at 2-3 in across, like a baby zucchini: past golf-ball size the skin toughens fast.

Goes out 6 weeks before last frost. It takes the cold.

Goes out 6 weeks before last frost. It takes the cold.

Goes out 6 weeks before last frost. It takes the cold.

Goes out 6 weeks before last frost. It takes the cold.

Goes out 6 weeks before last frost. It takes the cold.

Goes out 6 weeks before last frost. It takes the cold.

Goes out 6 weeks before last frost. It takes the cold.

Goes out 6 weeks before last frost. It takes the cold.

Goes out 6 weeks before last frost. It takes the cold.

Goes out 6 weeks before last frost. It takes the cold.

Goes out 4 weeks before last frost. It takes the cold.

Goes out 4 weeks before last frost. It takes the cold.

Goes out 3 weeks before last frost. It takes the cold.

Goes out 3 weeks before last frost. It takes the cold.

Goes out 3 weeks before last frost. It takes the cold.

Goes out 3 weeks before last frost. It takes the cold.

Goes out 3 weeks before last frost. It takes the cold.

Goes out 3 weeks before last frost. It takes the cold.

Goes out 3 weeks before last frost. It takes the cold.

Soil is ready -6 weeks before last frost.

Soil is ready -6 weeks before last frost.

Soil is ready -6 weeks before last frost.

Soil is ready -6 weeks before last frost.

Soil is ready -6 weeks before last frost.

Soil is ready -5 weeks before last frost.

Soil is ready -4 weeks before last frost.

Soil is ready -4 weeks before last frost.

Soil is ready -4 weeks before last frost.

Soil is ready -4 weeks before last frost.

Soil is ready -4 weeks before last frost.

Soil is ready -4 weeks before last frost.

Soil is ready -4 weeks before last frost.

Soil is ready -4 weeks before last frost.

Soil is ready -4 weeks before last frost.

Soil is ready -4 weeks before last frost.

Soil is ready -4 weeks before last frost.

Soil is ready -4 weeks before last frost.

Soil is ready -4 weeks before last frost.

Soil is ready -3 weeks before last frost.

Soil is ready -3 weeks before last frost.

Soil is ready -3 weeks before last frost.

Soil is ready -3 weeks before last frost.

Soil is ready -3 weeks before last frost.

Soil is ready -3 weeks before last frost.

Soil is ready -3 weeks before last frost.

Soil is ready -3 weeks before last frost.

Soil is ready -3 weeks before last frost.

Soil is ready -3 weeks before last frost.

Soil is ready -3 weeks before last frost.

Soil is ready -3 weeks before last frost.

Soil is ready -3 weeks before last frost.

Soil is ready -3 weeks before last frost.

Turn in compost, cut down cover crops, and let the soil warm two weeks before the first sowing.

Two weeks of increasing outdoor time keeps cold-hardy seedlings from stalling when they go out.