Spring Is Here – Garden Update

If you live in the North East, I don’t have to tell you how ridiculously warm it has been this past week. It is mid-March and the Daffodils and Magnolia flowers are already blossoming. The first day of spring was sunny in the 70′s with a very foggy morning.

I am wishing I started  my seeds even earlier this year because they would be doing great! I planted some collard and kale seeds on the 20th and, a couple of days later now, they have already sprouted. Today I am going to plant some spinach, kale and collard greens outside in the raised garden beds to get them established. Last year I planted them out there in March (when it still felt like March) and they survived though the late frost we had. I bought extra seeds, I’ll take my changes planting outside in March again, especially with this ridiculously warm weather we are having.

In te meantime, the tomato plants and leeks are chugging away under the grow lights, my eggplants finally sprouted and a few cubanelle peppers but I am still waiting on my red peppers to sprout. It is also time to start thinking about planting my other summer crops – zucchini, yellow squash and cucumbers. These can be planted directly outside after the last frost but I like to start them earlier indoors. April is right around the corner too. Usually it is cool and rainy – perfect weather for planting the lettuce outside. We’ll have to see what kind of April we are going to have. I bought extra lettuce seeds because I had my heart set on a lot of lettuce this year. Hopefully it will do alright in this warmer weather trend we are having.