Put your supplemental lights away; spring is near

Having just come back from the International Giant Vegetable Growers convention in Niagara Falls, N.Y., I am resisting the temptation to plant some giant cabbages. But this is the time to start them, along with broccoli, cauliflower, kale, and normal size-cabbages, as well as head lettuces and peppers.

First, a word of caution. Don't start all of any one type of plant on the same day. If you do, you will most probably have to harvest all of those plants at the same time. Who wants to eat 16 plants worth of broccoli all at once?

If, on the other hand, you plant a few seeds now and then a few more in three or four days and stretch out the period of planting for two or even three weeks or so, you can harvest the oldest plants first and stretch out your harvest over a period of a few weeks. Makes sense, doesn't it?

Next, some plants turn out to be more valuable than others and should get top consideration when choosing which plants to grow from seeds. For example, did you know that peppers are considered by some to be the second most dangerous foods to eat unless they have been grown organically? (The worst is farmed salmon, in case you were wondering.) Clearly, this would be a good choice out of all of the above plants.

Unfortunately, growing peppers in Alaska is not the easiest thing to do if you don't have a greenhouse. They require lots of heat. In addition, the seeds can be hard to germinate. My advice is to use a seed germinating mat, which will allow the soil used to warm up to 80 degrees. Since it is still cold outside, you might consider germination in the furnace room. You get the idea -- heat.

These seeds do not need light to germinate, so even though there are no windows in your hot furnace room, they will sprout. However, move them as soon as they do start to grow. This means checking them often.

In addition, consider this trick. Take the seeds and put them in a thermos bottle filled with 80-degree water. Leave them in the bottle (closed) for 24 hours or so. Then plant them.

There are many kinds of peppers to consider, from sweet green to red (really just a green that is allowed to ripen longer), chile peppers (from all sorts of countries) to yellow banana peppers. They are all good, but they all require warmth. If you don't have a greenhouse, consider these as windowsill plants, or try hot caps or homemade cloches to keep them warm.

When it comes to broccoli, may I suggest that you plant up to half the packet of seeds, but save half and start them in June. Yes, June. You can start them outdoors in flats then, instead of indoors. The idea is to have a second harvest in late September or October. Broccoli will survive an early September frost or two, though it is entirely possible, given the past few years, that we won't even have a frost in September. The cooler weather makes the broccoli flowers harvested sweeter.

Next, kales are big these days both in terms of nutrition and cancer-fighting abilities but also for color. They are really, really easy to grow from seed and they are pretty plants. The leaves have lots of texture, and different varieties, including ornamental types, provide color in both the vegetable garden as well as in the flower beds. They survive frosts well, too, so you can get your money's worth from them.

Finally, on the flower front this week are the dianthus, i.e. sweet williams, gillyflowers, carnations and pinks. In fact, there are over 350 varieties of dianthus, so there is sure to be one that suits your fancy. Read the packets carefully before you buy and make sure you know if you are planting perennial, biennial or annual types, greenhouse or garden types, scree and rock garden types or general flowerbed types.

Almost all dianthus have a delicious spicy scent. You may want to try the thermos trick mentioned above and a seed germinating mat (which is always a helpful item to employ; they are available in roll-up form from local nurseries). Plant dianthus seeds 18 inch deep and they should germinate within a week.

Be forewarned: The perennial dianthus may not flower as much or at all the first year (though your chances increase if you start them right away -- like today or this weekend), but should not be mistakenly pulled in the fall as they will do great next year.

We are almost there, friends. When you don't need supplemental light, the Alaska spring is not far away.

Jeff Lowenfels is a member of the Garden Writers Hall of Fame. You can reach him at teamingwithmicrobes.com or by calling 274-5297 during "The Garden Party" radio show from 10 a.m. to noon Saturdays on KBYR AM-700.