Gardening the end of March

By Rennie Phillips

I can hardly believe we are but a week or so away from the first of April. We have had a cold and wet winter, but for the past couple of weeks it seems like we have warmed up and are finally drying up as well. I wore my muck boots all day a few days ago and didn't get any mud on them. Kind of unreal with all the rain we've had this winter.

Our last frost here in Scott City is somewhere from the middle to end of April. We normally can keep an eye on the 10-day forecast so about the middle of April we can safely plant most of our frost prone crops like tomatoes and such. If you aren't sure when your average last frost date is, Google the grow zone for your ZIP code. This will list your grow zone which will determine your average last frost in the Spring as well as your average first frost in the Fall. Both of these dates are important when planning your garden.

However, some garden goodies can be planted even now, knowing we will have some cold weather later this spring. Now is the time to plant lettuce if you haven't already. Also, peas need to be planted. Some scatter lettuce seed on the snow and then when the snow melts the lettuce is planted. Plant your peas as early as you can from March on if you so desire. Both lettuce and peas seem to be able to handle cold weather.

Now is the time to buy and plant your broccoli, cabbage, kale, collards, Brussels sprouts and cauliflower. These are all cole crops and can be planted or set out four to six weeks before your last frost date. With all the cold we had this spring I'm behind. I got most of my cole crops started, but they are small. I have a hard time growing broccoli so I usually buy all of our broccoli plants. Carrots can be planted two to three weeks before the last frost so they can be planted now as well. Onions as well. I ordered all of my onion plants this year and am having them delivered around the first of April.

We were dropping our taxes off the other day and was asked if we had planted our potatoes on St. Patrick's Day. I had to admit I hadn't. We'll probably wait till about the end of March or first part of April. The ground is really cold and I don't believe they would come up very well. You can plant your potatoes and corn a week or two before the last frost date, but I usually wait until about the last frost date to plant mine. Some of the new super sweet hybrid corn like the ground to be warm.

Beets can be planted a week or so before the last frost. After you have planted the beet seed, scatter a real thin layer of straw over the bed. Beets seem to come up better through the straw. I need to start some zucchini in my greenhouse this week but will wait till middle to late April to set them out. Zucchini are easy to start. The seeds germinate real easily and grow well. You can set them out in your garden about three weeks after planting the seeds. Cucumbers are easy to start as well. These two are good seeds for little ones to start and plant.

Everyone wants to hurry and plant in the spring, but wait to plant your tomatoes, cucumbers and green beans. These three can't stand a frost so they should be planted after all danger of frost is over. May 1 is a great target date on all three in grow zone 6b. Some crops like zucchini and okra like warm-to-hot weather so don't get in a hurry planting them. Tomatoes won't set fruit till the night time temps stay around 60 degrees night and day. Only a handful of tomato varieties will set fruit when the temp is down in the low 50s.

If you have grape vines they need to be pruned as soon as you can. They will be budding out and putting on blossoms at any time. When you prune them, they will weep but this shouldn't hurt the vines. Not pruning them will hurt them even more. If you aren't sure how to prune your grapes, check it out online or ask someone who grows grapes. You will need to begin spraying your grapes for fungus and bugs at this time as well. Now is also a great time to spray around the vines for grass and weeds and such. I usually use Roundup in the spring. Just be careful not to get it on the vines. Make sure there is little if any wind. Some of our fruit trees are just starting to bud right now. I need to hook up our sprayer and spray our fruit trees with dormant oil spray. I think the only danger is making sure it doesn't freeze after you have sprayed them.

As you plant your garden some crops should be planted for successive crops. Radishes can be planted at one week to two week intervals so that you have radishes ready on a regular basis. Zucchini is another plant to plant say every two to four weeks. Lettuce is another veggie to plant successively. The same for some cabbage plants like Nero. Rainbow chard or kale can be planted like this. Also potatoes! Our favorite potatoes are the new little ones about silver dollar size. Even green onions can be planted successively so that you have green onions all summer. Buy extra onion sets and stick them down in your crisper in the fridge to plant later this summer. The sets are cheap so if they spoil you haven't lost but a dollar or two.

Gardening is time consuming if you only garden now and then. However if you spend a few minutes every day, it doesn't seem like you are spending that much time gardening. If I hoe just one row daily, it almost seems like fun. However, if I hoe all day, it gets to be work real quick.

Happy gardening.