March is an exciting and busy time for the vegetable gardener. Seed sowing can really begin now but always keep an eye on weather conditions and try to plan ahead, far better to follow the weather than the calendar. Spring is officially here and I’ve been a busy little bee planting onion sets, early potatoes and sowing seed in the greenhouse.
More jobs that can be tackled this month, depending on weather conditions:
- Sow early peas in guttering, modules or direct if the soil is warm enough
- Sow chillies and tomatoes, keeping the trays on a warm sunny windowsill indoors
- Plant early potatoes
- Sow sweetcorn into individual pots towards the middle of the month, put them in a greenhouse or place on a sunny windowsill and keep the pots warm
- Sow sweet peas (for their lovely flowers and perfume)
- Plant raspberry canes
- Sow brassicas under cover
- Plant asparagus crowns
- Sow lettuce and radish in a cold frame or under cloches
- Carrots and turnips can be sown outdoors under cloches
- Plant strawberries
I will be posting jobs each month for the veg and fruit garden. Depending on the weather, some of these jobs may not be possible to carry out, but can be tackled another time once conditions are right.
Carole Richardson
/ March 30, 2012Thanks for all your tips for this month. I’ve spent the day re-potting geranium cuttings, but have found vine weevil eggs and some hatched ones in the pots. Ive got rid of these, but does anyone know a good way to rid the soil, apart from using nemodes or strong chemicals. Someone told me Jeyes Fluid will do the job BUT worry in case it would kill the plants too!. Any ideas please?
Karin
/ March 30, 2012I would like to have planted strawberries, but they have not been delivered yet. The bed is dug and waiting. I’ve sown a row of carrots, but it might be a good idea to put a cloche on them this evening as temperatures are due to drop from tomorrow, so thanks for the reminder.
Karen
/ March 30, 2012Carole, I wouldn’t put Jeyes Fluid in my soil. I have chickens roaming around, digging in the soil, plus I eat what I grow. Too risky!
Val
/ March 30, 2012Jobs for March is fast turning into Jobs for April! I think I will try to make room for Sweet Pea this year for that bit of colour!
Flighty
/ March 31, 2012I’ve done all I wanted to do this month, and more, thanks to the good weather. By the look of the weather forecast for next week April may be a different story! xx
wellywoman
/ April 1, 2012It’s a hectic time and I’ve already run out of space on my window sills and the cold frames are packed. I’m sure I’m going to end up with a traffic jam of plants waiting to be released but the weather complicating everything!