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The February Pencil

A garden gets decided in February, planted in May, and eaten in January — and only one of those three is any fun. This is the February part: how many days of your household’s eating do you want out of the ground, and what has to be true for that to happen.

Rows of freshly dug sweet potatoes — The top of the list potatoes: 250–500 calories a square foot.

A year of winter squash on a kitchen floor — Still food in January winter squash for a year, off 15% of the ground.

Shelves of home-canned jars, 1940s — The point of it all the January shelf. Plan for it in February.

PeopleDays of the household’s eatingHow you’ll plantAverage last spring frostAverage first fall frost

The February Pencil — your page151-day season

4 people × 60 days × 12 sq ft2,880 sq ft planted

Inside the fence, once paths take their third4,320 sq ft

Seed & sets to put it in$144–336

Food out, a fair year1,606–2,915 lbs

What the store would charge for it$1,152–1,920

Where the ground goes

Filled from the top of the calorie list down, the way a feeding garden is planned.

Crop	Square feet	Pounds, fair year	Still food in January?
Potatoes	864	518–1,037	root cellar into spring
Winter squash	432	259–432	cool room to February
Roots (carrot, beet, turnip, parsnip)	432	259–432	cellar to March
Dry beans	432	22–35	pantry — years
Cabbage	288	374–634	cellar heads & kraut crocks
Onions (from sets)	144	86–115	to midwinter
Fresh eating (lettuce, cukes, peppers…)	288	86–230	eat it now — none of it is January food

When it goes in

Counted off your frost dates, not off a calendar month.

Crop	Date	The rule
Seed potatoes	April 19	3 weeks before last frost — soil at 45–50° four inches down
Cabbage transplants	April 26	2 weeks before last frost — it shrugs at a light one
Winter squash	May 24	after the soil passes 60°
Dry beans, last safe sowing	June 15	100 days to maturity + drying on the vine before fall rains
Fall roots, second sowing	July 26	days to maturity + 14 — September daylight slows everything

Tape it where the seed catalogs land. Next February you’re not guessing — you’re correcting.