Mid-Atlantic - March 2015

**sfg4uKim** 2/26/2015, 5:25 pm

Since I'll be at the Maryland Home & Garden Show I wanted to put the March post a little early.

SOOOOOO have y'all started any seeds indoors?

I've got a few things going but my pile of Mel's Mix has a thick icy crust over it so I can't access it.

Mikesgardn 2/26/2015, 8:52 pm

I don't grow my own transplants, so no, I haven't done much yet this year. I usually start planting peas and lettuce mid March, after adding some compost to my beds. But with the weather this year, it will have to warm up soon to make that schedule!

**sfg4uKim** 2/26/2015, 9:01 pm

Mikesgardn wrote: But with the weather this year, it will have to warm up soon to make that schedule!

Ain't that the truth!

Dunkinjean 2/26/2015, 10:47 pm

I have started my seeds on February 19th indoors in a seed growing kit from Burpee for the 1st time.
Tomatoes:
Red brandywine
Celebrity
Black Krim
Cherokee purple
Amish Paste
Peppers:
Bullnose
Chinese Five color (for fun to put into baskets)
Flowers:
Alyssum
Cosmos
Almost all have germinated except for the Chinese five color peppers. I assume they take a little longer.

nyrsimon 2/27/2015, 8:04 am

I started mine yesterday - just the cooler weather ones. Got Lettuce & Kale going. Started waaay too late last year (had surgery at exactly the wrong time!)

I'll start my Toms in 2-3 weeks and then another batch of lettuce.

I don't have much space (just a 3 x 3 and a couple of pots for the Toms) but I enjoy it immensely. Would really like to find some sort of greenhouse cover that I can extend the season a little at both ends...

Although, as I'm sure many of you have, we still have snow on the ground - which makes it seem weird planting seeds!!! Very Happy

Simon

littlesapphire 3/3/2015, 10:51 am

Oh, I need to look up when to start kale and chard. Anyone know that offhand?

As for me, since I'm in a pretty cold (and snowy!) part of the region, it's only 12 weeks before my LFD, so I put in some onions, peppers, coleus, and petunias. I had a lot of success doing peppers really early last year. Usually when I start them at 6-7 weeks, they're so so tiny by the time planting out time comes around and never had a chance to get going.

Kim, I forgot to get MM out of my garden last fall too! Now its' covered in 4 feet of snow and probably also frozen solid, lol. So unfortunately, I'm starting them in potting mix instead of my lovely MM.

rdavidp 3/14/2015, 2:50 pm

Hey Kim. I also live in Maryland. I have some shelling peas, Tom Thumb lettuce, romaine, and "toy choy" bok choy seeds. Do you think it might be a little too early to plant these seeds in our raised beds, or just say what the heck, go ahead and plant and see what happens? I have plenty of seeds, and not like they are expensive anyway. I have always taken risks with gardening, and they usually pay off with early harvests or having a longer period of harvesting. I also have pop up greenhouses that fit over my beds. The part of my yard where my raised beds are is now getting sun from sun up all the way to about 4pm before some shade starts creeping in.

Mikesgardn 3/14/2015, 8:04 pm

You can plant your peas and lettuce now. This is a good reference for planting in Maryland:

http://extension.umd.edu/sites/default/files/_images/programs/hgic/Publications/HG16%20Planting%20Dates%20for%20Vegetable%20Crops%20in%20Maryland.pdf

rdavidp 3/14/2015, 9:36 pm

I am going to wait till next weekend. I was out after the rain stopped this afternoon, and the bottom of the beds and the middle of the compost pile where still a bit frozen.

I went ahead and started my lettuce seeds indoors today.

**sfg4uKim** 3/15/2015, 7:55 am

The beauty of SFG is you CAN plant early and it's easy to protect things if/when we get another cold snap.

I'm a firm believer in the PVC dome and anything from a bed sheet to 6 mil plastic.

Mikesgardn 3/16/2015, 7:26 pm

I took advantage of the beautiful 60-degree weather today to add compost to my beds and hang the netting on my hoophouse. Peas are pre-sprouting on top of my water heater, and hopefully I can plant them this week. Weather forecast shows a few night dipping below freezing, so I may have to pre-sprout some more for later planting. We're close!

butterwhat 3/17/2015, 10:31 am

You guys have me so excited to get planting! With all of the snow and preparing for some consignment sales, I haven't even bought new seeds yet. Good thing I still have a lot left from last year. I don't sprout my own tomatoes, peppers, eggplant or cucumber, and everything I grow from seed I sow directly in the ground.

I was going to wait until early april to get the lettuce, arugula, spinach, kale, chard, and peas planted, but now I'm wondering if that is too late. I don't have much time available to plant the next few weekends, so maybe I'll just stick to trying to get them in on April 4.

This is my first time direct sewing this early in the season - should I keep it uncovered unless there are plants and frost, or should I keep them under the pvc greenhouse until it gets warmer?

**sfg4uKim** 3/17/2015, 10:53 am

butterwhat wrote: should I keep it uncovered unless there are plants and frost, or should I keep them under the pvc greenhouse until it gets warmer?

It depends on the temperature of the Mel's Mix, but you may want to put them undercover or at least have the covering handy for the nights. Remember, if you get a sunny day make sure it's got air circulation. I tend to COOK more plants than I FREEZE.

Mikesgardn 3/24/2015, 8:27 pm

Mikesgardn wrote:I took advantage of the beautiful 60-degree weather today to add compost to my beds and hang the netting on my hoophouse. Peas are pre-sprouting on top of my water heater, and hopefully I can plant them this week. Weather forecast shows a few night dipping below freezing, so I may have to pre-sprout some more for later planting. We're close!

The weather forecast is calling for lows in the upper 20's on the weekend. I may have to postpone planting again!

**sanderson** 3/25/2015, 1:22 am

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