Have You Started?

March is upon us, and it's time to kick your garden plan into gear. I know the snow is still on the ground, but it's nearly 40 during the day (perfect maple sugaring weather) and you should be thinking about your garden.

Seeds. Go ahead and plant some things indoors. If you're starting tomatoes from seed, now is a good time to start. Lettuce, cabbage, cauliflower, and celery can benefit from planting indoors now. Remember to not get too excited and think you need three dozen plants of each variety unless you have a lot of outdoor space to put it in later--and a big family to eat everywhere when it all ripens at the same time! Small, successive planting are best.

Cold frames. If you were thinking about making a cold frame (good for hardening off seeds for transplanting or to protect young seedlings from a late frost), plan time to build them very soon. You'll need them in a couple of short weeks!

Soil Preparation. It's a little too cold to go out and work the soil now, but you can buy the bags of compost, bales of peat moss, or any other soil additives you want to work in. It's also a good time to test your soil to see which minerals might be deficient. Better to know before you lay in all your plants.

Irrigation. Do you have a plan to water your burgeoning garden? If you thought last year as I did about installing a gravity-feed drip irrigation system, now is the time to make that a reality. (I'll keep you updated how mine is progressing).

Good luck, and remember to plan your work and work your plan!