To Do In The Northwest Edible Garden: March 2013

Plan & Purchase

If you haven’t ordered your seed potatoes yet, don’t delay – local potato specialist Irish Eyes Garden Seed is already out of many popular varieties. My absolute favorite, most productive variety of potato from last year was French Fingerling.

• Asparagus Crowns
• Bare Root Fruit Trees
• Bare Root Fruit Bushes
• Bare Root Cane Fruit & Vines
• Seed Potatoes
• Garlic – yes, you should have done this last October. But if you didn’t get to it, stick a few cloves of seed garlic in the ground. You might get lucky.

Start Indoors

If you are new to starting your own seeds you might want to check out my three-part Seed Starting 101 series: Key Components For Healthy Seedlings, A Step-by-Step Visual Guide To Growing Seedlings At Home, and Up-Potting.

• Tomatoes – late February or early March is a great time to start tomatoes indoors.
• Peppers & Eggplant – these are more tender than tomatoes, so standard practice is to start them a few weeks after tomatoes. I find it’s just easier to start them at the same time and up-pot them in a gallon pot so they have the longest grow time, but I have a greenhouse for hardening them off through that awkward “cool May and June” time. If you don’t, you may want to start your peppers and eggplants towards the end of the month. Peppers and eggplant germinate very slowly in cool soil, so this is a crop for which you want to break out the seed heater mat (I use this one). Remember to use cool-climate cultivars. Like tomatoes, small peppers and eggplant (think Asian, not Italian) will tend to ripen more reliably than big ones. Give these crops the warmest, sunniest, most protected spot you can.
• Brassicas – broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower & kholrabi can all be sown under light lights early this month, or wait until after mid-month and sow outside under a cloche. If you’re going to sow out, make sure your cloche is in place a few weeks before you plan to sow so the soil can warm and dry out somewhat. Watch for slugs! (I use Sluggo. I get a big tub at Costco at this time of year.)
• Hardy Herbs – Parsley, chives, fennel, chervil, oregano, dill, mint, sorrel, marjoram, lemon balm, pansies etc. can be started under lights.
• Salad Greens – Sow salad greens! Once a month at least for continuous harvest! Outside, your seeds will take quite awhile to germinate with soil temps this low.
• Spinach – Just like the other salad greens: new month, more spinach.
• Kale & Collards – They are very hardy and can be started in at the beginning of the month and transplanted out while still small towards the end of the month quite happily. You can also seed them directly. They’ll take a bit longer to germinate but they’ll grow. I usually grow kale year round but if you don’t love it as I do, hold off and grow it as a fall crop.
• Swiss Chard – Start now, or sow outside to a cloche after mid-March.
• Onions & Leeks – Give them a shot from seed if you want, but I buy plants from Dixondale.

Sow & Plant Outside

Fruit & Perennials:
Nurseries have all their fruit trees and perennials in right now, and places like Raintree are shipping bareroot. As long as the ground isn’t frozen or waterlogged, bare root or potted fruiting trees, bushes and perennials can be planted out. The sooner you can get them in, the better.

• Bare root fruit trees – these should be put into previously prepared ground while still dormant.
• Bare root fruit bushes (currants, gooseberries, blueberries, etc.).
• Bare root cane fruits (blackberries, raspberries, etc.).
• Asparagus crowns – these can be purchased at a good nursery. Look for an all male variety.
• Rhubarb crowns – these can be had by dividing established plants or purchased at a good nursery.
• Horseradish roots – these can be invasive!  It’s a good idea to plant them in a very large container sunk into the ground to control their roaming.

Vegetables & Annuals
Remember that any veggie sown or transplanted out in March will be happier and give better results under a vented cloche kept in place through May. Make sure to prevent heat build-up by venting during the day, especially if it’s sunny! Also keep the ground moist enough to assist germination.

• Peas & Favas –I started my peas and favas inside in mid February. (How to Sow Peas in Guttering) I’ll be transplanting those asap and sowing more directly outside.
• Salad Greens – Spinach, mustards, arugula, Asian greens and cress can be sown directly for baby salad greens. They all will want to bolt the moment the sun starts showing some real strength so when you see something harvestable, use it. If you started greens last month under lights they are ready to transplant out. Harden them off before you settle them into their outside bed.
• Carrots, Parsnips & Root Parsley – If you have fine, loose, sandy soil they will probably do fine sown about mid-month. If your ground is heavier and holds water I’d wait several weeks until it’s drier and you can rake it out to a nice fluffy consistency without clods.
• Radishes – Can be sown out directly. It works well to intercrop radishes and carrots or parsnips.
• Turnips & Rutabagas – I don’t bother with rutabagas in spring. For me they are a purely fall-winter crop. Spring turnips are lovely though. Harvest them little before maggots tunnel through them.
• Beets – Can be sown out directly towards the end of the month.
• Onion Sets – For early green onions, you can plant sets this month and use them before they bulb. I tend to just deliberately plant a bit too close and eat the thinnings.
• Potatoes – the gardener tradition is to sow potatoes on St. Patrick’s day (March 17th). But really they can go in anytime from mid March to June, depending on when you want to harvest them and if they are early season or late season varieties. Avoid a situation where the green growth of your potatoes might get killed back by frost – even though the potato won’t die, it will use a lot of it’s energy up rebuilding green leaf mass and won’t produce as nice a harvest later.

Harvest

The goal of almost any vegetable that’s survived an entire growing season and gone through winter at this point is to make seed as soon as is reasonable. March is the last month you should expect to be able to harvest from your 2012 crops, as the longer, warmer days of April will send pretty much everything to bolt. If your cole crops make flowers and you can possibly leave them in the ground, please do so – bees and other beneficial pollinators love the simple yellow brassica flowers and will swarm to them on warmish days when little else is in bloom. Let those brassicas go to seed and, as a bonus, you may get some tasty mystery-kale-type self-sown starts popping up around your yard.

• Beets – any remaining beets should be used before they go to seed next month.
• Cabbage – Brussels sprouts and any remaining overwintering cabbage should be used soon – any remaining sprouts should be picked this month. Sprouting broccoli and overwintering cauliflower should be ready this month and, depending on variety, into April or even May.
• Carrots & Parsnips – finish off the overwintered carrots & parsnips, they’ll go to seed soon.
• Kale & Collards – if your kale is sprouting, the shoots are delicious used like broccoli.
• Cauliflower – I have three heads of over-wintering Cauliflower this year, but they aren’t as pretty as last year’s.
• Sprouting Broccoli – sprouting purple should be ready to harvest this month and possibly into April. Mine is just forming side shoots now.
• Kohlrabi – still lovin’ my winter kohlrabi but it too is threatening to bolt. Time to eat the last of it.
• Chard – if any Swiss Chard has overwintered, it will be putting on new growth now and can be harvested. My chard planting this spring is pathetic. Oh well, what are ya gonna do?
• Leeks – Still quite harvestable. Next month leeks will probably send up a seed stalk.  If this happens, check the flavor and texture before consigning them to compost.  I have harvested leek scapes that were sweet, mild and crunchy. I wish I had grown leeks last year!
• Turnips & Rutabagas – harvest the last of the turnips and rutabagas; leave them into April and they’ll probably start going to seed. Rutabaga-Cauliflower puree is a great option at this time of year.
• Salad Greens – I am still harvesting radicchio and some arugula, but little else in the salad greens department this year.
• Jerusalem Artichokes – Enjoying them more this year, what with my recent focus on Sunchoke Soup.
• Stored Potatoes – my storage potatoes have gone all sprouty on me. The French Fingerlings are alien-crazy-sprouting and the Yellow Finns are just a bit sprouty.
• Stored Winter Squash – I only have one squash left, but it is still in good shape. See also: how I store my winter squash. And here is a great recipe for using up the last of the squash: Winter Curried Squash Soup with Spice Toasted Squash Seeds.
• Rhubarb-is your rhubarb coming up yet? I’m not seeing any growth from mine yet.

March in the garden is typically pretty busy around here. Is it for you too? What are you planning to do this month?