I'm wondering if anyone can tell me from experience what has worked for them planting next month in zone eight. I'm looking for edible things mostly but open to anything. I'm in middle Alabama and I'm excited to start planting!
You could start some flats of seedlings now indoors to be transplanted outside in late February ... cold-hardy stuff like cabage, broccoli, brussels sprouts, cauliflower, head lettuce, leaf lettuce, celery, parsley. And then, late February, you could plant your started seedlings, and start spinach, carrots, beets, radishes, chard from seed in the garden. But the first thing is to get a garden area READY; get rid of all the plants/grass now growing there, start improving your dirt by throwing on all your kitchen scraps including coffee grounds; and wood ashes ... and if you can, start a compost pile with all the weeds you pull out, sticks, leaves, kitchen scraps, etc. You know, getting a good garden going takes some time to develop your garden soil ... spring is a good time for digging, because the dirt is soft and moist, rather than rock-hard as it is in summer. Good luck to you.
we've got a long time compost going so we are going to use it, and thank you for the suggestions. i was also wondering about tulips...because I'v been told i can't do them, but then i'v also been told the opposite
I think tulips need too many chill hours to grow more than the first year in Alabama. Unless you want to dig them up and keep the bulbs in the fridge a good part of the year ... which most people don't do, 'cause they need their fridge space for food ... Check this out ... http://books.google.com/books?id=vx...6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=tulips chill hours&f=false
In zone 8 you can and should plant all this stuff in the fall and most of it will thrive and feed you all winter and into early spring. When it gets hot in April, a lot of the cole crops will bolt and go to seed on you. Lettuce and spinach should be in a cold frame over winter, not out in the open. You want to harvest mature winter veggies before the summer veggies go in the ground, so that means planting in fall in zone 8. Or you can have two separate gardens, one for winter, the other for summer.
