Veggie garden: What to plant in February

It is ten years later, and you still have not followed through on that resolution to plant the veggies you have been ranting and raving about. We bet your wooden planters have even lost their lustre by now, and we are totally judging you.

It’s time to get up and give your yard and household groceries budget a facelift by sowing the seeds of empowerment and growing your own foods.

February month in Mzansi calls for lighter clothes and lighter meals as we expect sweltering temperatures.

Gaye Boshoff, owner of Honeymoon Farms in Knysna in the Western Cape. The farm is known for its organic fruit and veggies. Photo: Supplied/ Food For Mzansi

Is it too hot to get that dream veggie garden going? No, says plant advisor and owner of the Honeymoon Farm in Knysna in the Western Cape, Gaye Boshoff. “Just pay attention to watering requirements and what will grow best.”

Not only is eating your own home-grown veggies beneficial to your health, but it can also work wonders for you and your family’s mental well-being.

“If we teach kids at a very young age to nurture the Earth and eat healthy, that is cultivating a brilliant upbringing for any child.

“When they grow into adulthood, I think they become wiser, more gentle and kinder. They have a different perspective compared to other people who don’t,” Boshoff says.

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Now is the time to sow and transplant your brassicas and organise and prep your beds for planting garlic.

“Garlic takes eight months to grow, so add bone meal to your soil and a good organic fish fertiliser. Garlic’s bad companions include asparagus, strawberry, beans, peas and brassicas.”

So, what veggies you plant?

“Brassicas, like broccoli, cauliflower and brussels sprout will be ready by winter, lima beans, runner beans and French beans should be ready by winter,” Boshoff says.

It is also a good time to:

sow a few rows of beetroot and carrot seeds and plant lettuce, Swiss chard, sweet basil, kale and cabbage; and
Potatoes – now is a good time to get those potatoes in the earth, as well as chives. You can also plant carrots because they grow any time of the year.