Mid-South in March: 2015

Morning, All!  Hope this finds you able and eager to get out into your gardens & yards.

This past week we had sleet, snow, & ice.  But it's supposed to be in the 60's this week.  Of course, we're supposed to get quite a bit of rain too...

I know that I'm in the southern tier of Mid-South.  Would love to hear from some of you TN & VA folks that are in our region.  (And the rest of you, of course!)  If you're not sure this is your region, there is a link from the home page that can guide you.

According to Gardenate.com, here is what we should be doing this month:

Planting now in March for the USA - Zone 7b zone

Angelica	Plant in garden.	Harvest from 18 months.
Artichokes (Globe)	Start undercover in seed trays and plant out in 4-6 weeks.	Harvest from February.
Asparagus	Plant in garden.	Harvest from 24 months.
Basil	Start undercover in seed trays and plant out in 4-6 weeks.	Harvest from June.
Beetroot (also Beets)	Plant in garden.	Harvest from June.
Broccoli	Plant in garden.	Harvest from June.
Brussels sprouts	Plant in garden.	Harvest from July.
Cabbage	Plant in garden.	Harvest from June.
Capsicum (also Bell peppers, Sweet peppers)	Start undercover in seed trays and plant out in 4-6 weeks.	Harvest from June.
Carrot	Plant in garden.	Harvest from July.
Cauliflower	Plant in garden.	Harvest from August.
Celeriac	Start undercover in seed trays and plant out in 4-6 weeks.	Harvest from July.
Chilli peppers (also Hot peppers)	Start undercover in seed trays and plant out in 4-6 weeks.	Harvest from June.
Chives (also Garden chives)	Start undercover in seed trays and plant out in 4-6 weeks.	Harvest from June.
Collards (also Collard greens, Borekale)	Plant in garden.	Harvest from June.
Coriander (also Cilantro, Chinese parsley)	Start undercover in seed trays and plant out in 4-6 weeks.	Harvest from May.
Eggplant (also Aubergine)	Start undercover in seed trays and plant out in 4-6 weeks.	Harvest from July.
Endive	Start undercover in seed trays and plant out in 4-6 weeks.	Harvest from June.
Fennel (also Bronze fennel)	Start undercover in seed trays and plant out in 4-6 weeks.	Harvest from July.
Florence Fennel (also Finocchio)	Start undercover in seed trays and plant out in 4-6 weeks.	Harvest from July.
French tarragon	Start undercover in seed trays and plant out in 4-6 weeks.	Harvest from May.
Garlic	Plant in garden.	Harvest from August.
Horseradish	Plant in garden.	Harvest from August.
Kale (also Borecole)	Plant in garden.	Harvest from May.
Leeks	Start undercover in seed trays and plant out in 4-6 weeks.	Harvest from July.
Lemon Balm (also Sweet balm, Bee balm (USA))	Start undercover in seed trays and plant out in 4-6 weeks.	Harvest from June.
Lettuce	Plant in garden.	Harvest from May.
Luffa (also Loofah, plant sponge)	Start undercover in seed trays and plant out in 4-6 weeks.	Harvest from July.
Marrow	Start undercover in seed trays and plant out in 4-6 weeks.	Harvest from July.
Mizuna (also Japanese Greens, Mitzuna, Mibuna)	Plant in garden.	Harvest from May.
Mustard greens (also gai choy)	Plant in garden.	Harvest from May.
Okra (also Ladyfinger, gumbo)	Start undercover in seed trays and plant out in 4-6 weeks.	Harvest from July.
Onion	Plant in garden.	Harvest from October.
Oregano (also Pot Marjoram)	Start undercover in seed trays and plant out in 4-6 weeks.	Harvest from May.
Parsley (also curly leaf parsley or flat leaf (Italian) parsley)	Start undercover in seed trays and plant out in 4-6 weeks.	Harvest from June.
Parsnip	Start undercover in seed trays and plant out in 4-6 weeks.	Harvest from August.
Peas	Plant in garden.	Harvest from June.
Potato	Plant in garden.	Harvest from August.
Pumpkin	Start undercover in seed trays and plant out in 4-6 weeks.	Harvest from July.
Radish	Plant in garden.	Harvest from May.
Rockmelon (also Canteloupe)	Start undercover in seed trays and plant out in 4-6 weeks.	Harvest from June.
Rosemary	Start undercover in seed trays and plant out in 4-6 weeks.	Harvest from 12 months.
Sage (also Common Sage)	Plant in garden.	Harvest from 18 months.
Salsify (also Vegetable oyster)	Plant in garden.	Harvest from July.
Savory - winter savory (also Savory)	Start undercover in seed trays and plant out in 4-6 weeks.	Harvest from May.
Shallots (also Eschalots)	Plant in garden.	Harvest from July.
Silverbeet (also Swiss Chard or Mangold)	Plant in garden.	Harvest from June.
Snow Peas (also Sugar Peas, Mangetout, Chinese Peas)	Plant in garden.	Harvest from July.
Spinach (also English spinach)	Plant in garden.	Harvest from May.
Spring onions (also Scallions, Bunching onions, Welsh onion)	Start undercover in seed trays and plant out in 4-6 weeks.	Harvest from June.
Squash (also Crookneck, Pattypan, Summer squash)	Start undercover in seed trays and plant out in 4-6 weeks.	Harvest from June.
Strawberries (from seeds)	Start undercover in seed trays and plant out in 4-6 weeks.	Harvest from 12 months.
Strawberry Plants	Plant in garden.	Harvest from July.
Sweet corn (also maize)	Plant in garden.	Harvest from July.
Thyme (also Common thyme)	Start undercover in seed trays and plant out in 4-6 weeks.	Harvest from February.
Tomato	Start undercover in seed trays and plant out in 4-6 weeks.	Harvest from June.
Turnip	Plant in garden.	Harvest from May.
Watermelon	Start undercover in seed trays and plant out in 4-6 weeks.	Harvest from June.
Yam/Oka (also Oca)	Plant in garden.	Harvest from July.
Zucchini (also Courgette/Marrow, Summer squash)	Start undercover in seed trays and plant out in 4-6 weeks.	Harvest from May.

Looks like I'm already behind!

If you haven't checked out The Old Farmer's Almanac, they've got some interesting info - Planting by the moon cycle, what to plant when, etc.  Their ads are a bit annoying, but still good stuff.  Here's the link:

http://www.almanac.com/

Hope you have a great month of planting & fun!

Had to run some errands and saw one of my neighbors has daffy-dills blooming already!  That gives me hope...

We had sunshine & blue skies today!  Absolutely beautiful!  And 60+ temps.  Supposed to be the same tomorrow.  Then rain moves in for a week.

But it gives me hope!!!

Yep.  I can finally plant my peas, lettuce, potatoes and onions tomorrow.  But I may run out of time so my priority is peas and potatoes.  My lettuce is growing nicely in little bitty pots so they could wait and onions will get planted when I get to them.  I am late planting the peas, potatoes and onions but hope to have cool enough weather for a while in order to harvest the peas and to get the onions to bulb up.

What a beautiful day it was today and the same is expected for tomorrow (Sunday).  As you said, then the rain comes back again BUT the projections are for temps over 32* for the next 10 days.  We shall see.

We are having nice weather too. It's so nice hubby took his motorcycle out for a ride. I need to get out into the garden and get my carrots and onions planted. Thanks for the reminder

mschaef,    Beautiful day here so hubby took his Razor out for a day in the mountains!

Finally a gorgeous day today.  Not a cloud in the sky the whole day.  Simply beautiful.  Tomorrow is  supposed to be just as pretty.  I may take off work a half day tomorrow to come home to the garden and finish planting peas, potatoes and onions.

And a beautiful day today, too!  I FINALLY get to go play in the dirt...

All the seedlings are on the deck soaking up the sun, along w/ my rosemary & aloe plant.

I've got cabbage, broccoli, cumin & German chamomile poking up.

Woo-Hoo!!!!

Ladies, finally a truly beautiful day!  I went out and planted some grass around our mailbox color spot.  I also took my seedlings out for a day trip in the sun.  I'm sad to say that I am a mess after all that minor activity. 

I think I'll work on planting some zinnias and marigolds (French, I don't care for the plain large ones).  I actually have more flower seed starters than vegetable.  Most everything except tomatoes are stuff I want to direct seed.  I'm not taking for granted any freezing weather.

Regardless, let's enjoy this day!

PS: I took a look at the weather channel for us:

Fayetteville:
Today 78/52 Sunny
3/17  76/49 Partly Cloudy
3/18  67/49 Mostly Cloudy 10% Chance of Rain
3/19  58/49 90% Chance of Rain
3/20  67/44 Am Fog/PM Sun
3/21  67/48 20% Chance of Rain
3/22  69/42 Cloudy 20% Chance of Rain
3/23  67/42 Partly Cloudy 20% Chance of Rain

Yolos, Brooks is just ever so slightly warmer down there.  However, rain threats are the same.

Marie, Buford is the opposite of Yolos and ever so slightly cooler.  Again, rain threats are the same.

Thanks for the rain update, Windmere...  I'll be happy for the clouds tomorrow.

Was digging the roots out of bed 1 and found a couple of worms!  I'm so excited...  I wonder what's in the rest of them... 
 

I'm going all the way to the box bottom and putting in a thick layer of newspaper to try to continue to keep weeds/grass out.  Seemed to do a good job last year.  And not too many roots.

Also weeded the blueberry bed.  Some of the weeds remind me of jellyfish - small top & LONG tentacles....! 

AtlantaMarie wrote:...  Some of the weeds remind me of jellyfish - small top & LONG tentacles....! 

Dang! Isn't that always the case?! Now, if I could just grow my carrots in that ratio!

   Yeah!

Finally saw some bumble bees today.  Of course, we were about 1-1/2 hours SE of our house...  But STILL!  They were buzzing around the blueberry bushes that were in full bloom.  And heard a woodpecker in the distance tapping on a tree.

Beautiful day!  But expecting rain tomorrow again.

Went & checked the beds late yesterday afternoon.  They didn't settle as much as I was expecting with the rain we had.  And "someone" had been poking their beak in the beds looking for my worms....

Got all sorts of plants poking up thru the peat pellets.  They liked the food I gave them the other day.  Perked everyone right up.  Tomatoes that were up-potted are still in a little shock, but looking better.