With the cooler season now well underway, we can look forward to a whole bunch of exciting projects in the garden. There’s so much to do this time of year. Building trellises and bean tunnels, finally getting around to making that hugelkulter bed you’ve been stocking up branches and sticks for. Making a fresh batch of compost for the garden with all the spent summer crops… But, projects aren’t the only thing we’ll be working on this month. There are so many seeds to sow in December, let’s get into it!
Growing Conditions in December
If you are located in North Florida, chances are you’ve already been hit by the first frosts of this season. For our Central Florida fam, those frosts are coming and South Florida… Do you guys ever get below 32F? Lucky butts…
It’s plenty dry this time of year with the occasional rain from cold fronts. The average rainfall is between 1″ – 4″, with the North receiving most of that rain. The days are short and the sun isn’t near as strong as it was a couple months back. The UV index is at 4 for North and Central Florida, and 5 for South Florida. The average daylight is between six and seven hours.
There’s much less pest activity these days, which, hallelujah my friends! So much more enjoyable to be in the garden when everything under the sun isn’t trying to bite and sting you.
Seeds To Sow In December
Alliums
These fragrant, pungent veggies are a must have in every garden. Plus, you can eat more than just the delicious bulbs! The leaves make great garnishes in soups, stews, chili’s, you name it. What does a green onion not go well on? Choose short day varieties for onions and soft neck varieties of garlic.
- onions
- garlic
- leeks
- chives
- spring onions
Brassica’s
If you didn’t get a round of these guys in last month, go ahead and start some now. Or, if you did start some last month, get the next round started. Seriously, this group of plants contains some of my favorite veggies and they look beautiful in the garden. Grow them in the shade of taller plants to protect them on those hotter winter days.
- Cauliflower – this variety from Baker’s Creek has produced large heads with tight curds year after year despite extreme temperature changes. Think, frost on Sunday, eighty degrees by Saturday. It’s a winner in my garden.
- Mustard – I love growing mustard for use as a green manure. It has a deep taproot that brings nutrients from the sub soil into the top soil when chopped and dropped. Plus, it’s beautiful and tasty. If you want to fertilize your garden without bringing in outside inputs, mustard is going to be a big help.
- Bok Choy – Perfect in soups and stir fry’s, this crop will grow through hot and cold weather like a champ. Also, so beautiful. I like to harvest with a cut and come again approach.
- Kale – absolutely beautiful in the garden and sooo hardy. If you don’t love it, turn it into a green powder to add to smoothies or even brownies 😉
- Brussel Sprouts – delicious roasted with some maple syrup and chopped walnuts or pecans. Make sure to grow these in the shade of other crops or somewhere it will only get morning light. It can be much more finnicky about temperature fluctuations.
- Cabbage – So easy to grow and so tasty. A cabbage grown in fertile soil with some necessary shade from hot temperatures is so sweet. This is my favorite variety to grow. It produces large heads for me every year.
- Broccoli – now, I haven’t had success with heading broccoli. However, there are other varieties of broccoli that produce delicious shoots you can use in place of traditional broccoli. My favorite varieties are Yod Fah broccoli and Rabe broccoli.
- Collards – Stock up on all of these leafy greens while the weather allows.
Legumes
- Kentucky Blue Beans – If you love classic green beans, rejoice, because now is the time to get these babies in the ground.
- Chinese noodles/yard long beans – Yup, these guys will grow straight through our summer and most of our winter. These guys are a great hardy green bean that just keeps on giving.
- Peas – sugar snap, snow peas, sweet peas, whatever your heart desires. Plus they are so beautiful up a trellis 😍
Apiaceae
This group of crops has a lot of my personal favorite seeds to sow in October. They are so beautiful in the garden and require no babying during cold winter days. The common denominator with these plants are the small seeds that do not germinate well if left to dry out. Keep these seeds moist, not soggy, until germination.
Better yet, sow them right before a cold front comes through. They will be kept plenty moist from the rains those bring.
- Celery
- Parsley
- Carrots
- Parsnips
Potatoes!
Keep growing these lovely tubers straight through the coldest months of the year. Determinate varieties (think smaller potatoes with thinner skins) tend to do better than indeterminate varieties. That being said, don’t be afraid to try all sorts of varieties to find your favorite and best growers.
Strawberries!!
We are in the swings of strawberry season! For your larger strawberries buy bare root strawberry plants from your local nursery. If you’d also like to experiment with heirloom, from seed strawberries, these alpine strawberries, and this one, from Baker’s Creek are divine. Keep in mind that heirloom strawberries are tiny, about the size of a raspberry.
Amaranth
This plant is beautiful and can be grown for it’s abundant grain and also for use as a natural dye. It’s super hardy in cold and hot weather, however, the buggies love it so much I’ve dedicated it to my fall/winter garden.
This plant is a great choice if you are trying to produce more of your own feed for your chickens or quails, and the whole plant is edible. The leaves have a strong flavor in my opinion, but give them a try, maybe you’ll love it 🙂
Leafy Greens
Of course, of all the seeds to sow in December, now is a great time to get your fill of fresh leafy greens. Stick to loose leaf lettuces and other cut and come again greens, since our climate doesn’t stay cold long enough for a heading lettuce.
- Loose leaf lettuce
- Spinach
- Arugula
Herbs
- oregano
- chives
- marjoram
- thyme
- rosemary
- mint
- sage
- lavender
Flowers
- echinacea
- black eyed susans
- blue mist flowers
- cosmos
- zinnias
- marigolds
- calendula
- chamomile
- coreopsis
For more on native flowers visit https://www.flawildflowers.org/.
There we have it, a short list of seeds to sow in December. While this is no means a comprehensive list, I hope this helps you narrow down the best crops for your garden right now. Let me know what seeds you’ll be sowing and projects you’ll be working on this winter season.
Merry Christmas and happy gardening! 😊
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