Too many, February is just part of the count down to mid-March gardening madness; a time to prep beds and decide which heirloom tomatoes to try growing this year.  The list of veggies to be planted in February is long, including a few that you may not of thought to plant. February marks the last round for cool weather crops; broccoli, cauliflower, lettuce, spinach, kale, swiss chard, mustard, beets, and carrots. It is also when you plant peas, potatoes, onions, asparagus, and horseradish. The Great Outdoors is well stocked in all of the above.  This is also the time of year when seed sales jump and we start to reorder weekly. Many gardening newbies are scared of starting from seed. I noticed this last year when I tried to talk customers out of buying starter pots of green beans and grab a packet of seeds instead. The bean packets contain about 20 seeds and cost a little less than the single bean starter plant. Most vegetable seeds can be sown directly in the ground and do not take more than a week to germinate (sprout). You just need to make sure the top layer of soil does not get too dry since the young seedling do not have deep roots yet. But keeping the ground to moist will cause the seedling to rot. Growing vegetables from seed is not only cheaper but you also have more variety to choose from. And we have variety. Next time you are at the Great Outdoors check out our seed selection in the gift shop were we have nine seed racks. We carry Wildseed Farms which is from Fredericksburg, providing wildflowers for our area. There are two racks of Thompson & Morgan seeds. Their exotic line has seeds for papayas, pomegranates, and passion vine. The other rack holds seeds for micro greens and sprouting and varieties that are perfect for growing in containers.  Last year I bought a package of cucumber seeds from Thompson & Morgan it cost 3.99 and contained four seeds, but the cucumbers were fantastic and I've already bought a pack for this year. At a dollar a cucumber seed that is still cheaper than a 4" starter plant at $1.39.  If you want a real bang for your buck check out Livingston Seeds, they sell old time favorites at a cheap price and they are not skimpy with the seeds. Botanical interest is our best selling line. It fills up three racks, one has flowers and herbs. The second rack has jumbo packs, this is where you will find specialty mixes like plants to attract hummingbirds and flowers for cutting gardens. Their third rack contains vegetables, if you look at the upper right hand corner of their packs half of them are stamped certified organic. If you are looking for solely organic seeds go to the Seeds of Change rack all their seeds are organic. Besides flowers and vegetables they also carry seeds for medicinal plants like mugwort, rue, St John's wort, and some I've never heard of, i.e. Ashwaganda and Quillquina. Our newest arrival is Seed Savers, specializing in rare heirlooms. This is the rack were you will find something different, jelly melons, sunberries, white beets, purple peas, and browned skinned cucumbers to name a few.

                  If this your first time starting from seed some of the easiest to try for February are radishes, peas, spinach, beets, dill, and nasturtiums, which have edible leaves and flowers. By mid-March once freezing nights are behind us try beans, cucumbers, melons, basil, and summer squashes like zucchini, yellow, and patty pan. But be careful, it is easy to become a seed junky. I have room in my garden for four melons but I have 13 seed packets. The cure?  Find a fellow gardener to swap seeds with. Finally, if you don't see a seed for something you want to grow, please let us know and we will see if we can get them in for you.