Yesterday I started Bright Lights Swiss Chard, India Mustard Greens, Summer Crisp Looseleaf Lettuce, Seven Top Turnips, and Red Bowl Looseleaf Lettuce. I have a square foot garden and use a mini-hoop greenhouse over it (to cover when it freezes). Today the high is going to be 77 degrees -- so it's been quite warm so far this winter. We've only had one week this year where the temps got down to freezing at night for about 3 nights in a row. There is supposed to be a cold night next week -- I'll just cover the garden up for that night. I'm also planning on what I'll be growing this coming spring!! I need to get my mind made up so I'll know if I need to order any seeds for varieties that I don't have seed for. Judy Here is a link that might be useful: Ft2Garden.com

yea wait ... first i think of soil compaction.. you simply standing and working in your beds.. i know OH has a lot of heavy clay.. and tromping around your beds early .... MIGHT lead to cement later in the summer ... next.. it would depend on how far you want to divide .. and the potential for heave.. as the ground goes in and out of thaw ... if you are simply halving a giant piece.. you can probably get away with it.. but if you were dividing down to single plants.. you might find them all above the surface in a few weeks ... i too am anxious to get out there.. but there is plenty to do .. cleaning up a lot of stuff.. before i spend too much time actually walking in the beds .. or making cement ... actually.. the first thing i had to do when i moved here with a 3 year old.. was build a sandbox.. so the kid would stop digging up everything i just planted .. lol ... make any sense?? you know.. what it really comes down to ... i dont trust mother nature ... she will mess with you gratuitously .. i still expect her to throw winter at me, with a vengeance .... it may not happen ... probably not ... but i trust her as far as i can throw her. .. ken ps: i though you were a guilt momma.. lol ... and i was wondering what you were guilty about.. lol ...

hosta roots are not very deep ... i would be very careful about hoeing ... i would just surface spread it i would not fertilize until i was within one week of normal frost free date ... IF hosta come up on stored energy .. then fertilizer may not be useful to early in the season ... and depending on your soil, may be gone before they can utilize it ... e.g. my sand ... hosta start growing roots.. or storage structures for next year.. around 7/1 or so .. that would be the time to fertilize.. IMHO .... do NOT equate the need to fertilize potted stock with what you need to do in mother earth ... ken

garland, depends partly on your latitude. If you have a south exposure next to house and out of the wind, they should be ok. On cold nights, you can cover them with cotton sheets, burlap, or even the light weight mesh from HomeDepot that is often used to snuff out weeds in the summer. uncover them in the morning after the sun is up. Plastic is not a good idea. Good luck. dl