We are dodging freezes, getting windblown, seeing spring temperatures one day and scraping ice off the windshield the next.
It is a typical Coastal Georgia winter.
If you started planning your spring garden last month, you are well on your way to a successful garden this year. If your garden is right on the coast, you will be past our usual frost-free date the day after Valentine’s Day. If you are east of the interstate, you can start putting plants or seeds in the ground after Feb. 20. Those who live west of the interstate can start planting on or about Feb. 25 and not have to worry about a freeze.
We already are through half of the asparagus-planting window and well into cabbage, carrot, collard, kale, lettuce, mustard, onion, garden peas, Irish potatoes, radish, spinach and turnip planting. Beet and broccoli planting commences with Valentine’s Day. Everything else can go into the ground after St. Patrick’s Day, which is right around the corner.
If you have not started planning for your garden, time’s a-wastin’! There is no football to distract you. No excuses.
Soil testing, pH modifications and organic matter additions already should be stirred into your garden soil. It almost is past time for you to decide on the varieties you want to grow and purchase seed.
Good, quality seed is critical. There is a trend toward saving seed from heirloom plants and using them for following seasons. There is nothing wrong with that if you store them properly and treat the seeds so they are not infested with disease-causing organisms like fungi and viruses.
For the vast majority of us, good, quality seed from our local garden store is the best way to go. The staff members there are valuable resources. They know what varieties perform year in and year out in your area. If they did not, they would not last in business very long. They routinely have all the fertilizers, tools, and protectants you likely will need. Also, because they are focused on the local area, one can often find items of local interest and need that don’t show up on the radar of a national-chain big-box store.
The No. 1 garden crop is tomatoes, which also are the most difficult crop for Coastal Georgia. As proof, I simply can point to the profound absence of any commercial tomato production in the area.
Just because it does not perform in a commercial setting does not mean you cannot grow tomatoes successfully at home. What follows are some tactics to increase the chance of success in growing tomatoes in Coastal Georgia.
Start your plants as early as possible so you can finish the crop before the heat of summer hits. This is the main reason transplants are so popular.
Pick a determinant variety of tomato, especially if this is your first attempt.  Determinant tomato varieties mature and produce one big crop of tomatoes over the course of a couple weeks and then die. If you have spot for growing tomatoes that does not suffer from summer’s heat — like a shade house on the north side of your house — you might be able to take advantage of indeterminate tomato varieties.
These plants start producing tomatoes and keep producing as long as you keep them watered, fertilized and protected from extremes of heat or cold.  Indeterminate varieties are good for folk who have limited space. One or two plants can keep a family supplied with fresh tomatoes well into December.  
For this strategy to be most successful it is best to have the tomato plant in as large a pot as you can move. Five gallons is a minimum volume, but the bigger the better. That way, the plant can be moved into the sun when temperatures are moderate and into the shade when it gets hot.
An even supply of moisture also is critical. Solanaceous plants — tomato, pepper, eggplant and, yes, tobacco — all do best with a steady, even supply of water. If they are allowed to suffer, going from really dry to really wet, they develop a disease called blossom end rot. Yes, we are simple people. The blossom end of the fruit rots — therefore, the name. A good drip system is cheap and effective at maintaining proper moisture mixture.  
So go for it! You still can make it happen this year.