March 2021

When I first started writing this it was decidedly winter out there, the snow was softly falling, and the air cold. But the end of February brought us a week of warmer weather, and March 1st proved one of those glorious early spring days. Here in Essex a light rain fell for most of the morning, giving way to a warm, late afternoon sun. The snow is rapidly disappearing everywhere we look, only the shady nooks and spots where it was piled in heaps remain. Walking through my gardens on the 1st, I did the only sensible thing to do in an early spring thaw, I found a bit of warmed earth and put my hands in, feeling the wet soil and smelling the earthy musk. Stooping here and there, examining the garden, looking for life, I push leaves aside and shift the heavy mulch, revealing the tiny spear tips of daffodils and crocus just poking up through the crust. Snow drops are popping up under the Hazels, just coming up in places, delicately slender, and in others just coming into bloom. 

Of course March 1st doesn’t mean warm days and sunshine and headlong into spring. March 2nd, we had sunshine but temps in the teens and high winds whipping through the garden and rattling the windows. But then now, the 3rd, sees us with temps back in the 40’s, another gentle spring day. Despite March and his fickle nature, the tide has turned. Spring is coming. At times it feels like it is very slowly creeping and other times it feels a mad dash. But it is coming.

So here is what we are doing in our gardens this month and what you could do as well.

And just a quick heads up. We will be announcing what plants we will have available in our small nursery starting next month!

Snow drops in the garden

The green house last March, in the beginning of seed starting

Jobs for the Garden

If you are like me, and found all the snow in February got in the way of a numerous garden jobs, well, now is the time to crack on and tackle those tasks that didn’t get finished. 

It is still a great time to prune your fruiting trees / shrubs, take advantage of a warm morning or afternoon to get out there. Just remember, use proper tools that are clean and sharp so you don’t do more harm than good. Check out the blog for last month to see our tips. 

All the snow prevented us from working on the stone wall and green house. And now it is time to get to it, as we need those complete so we can then move on to prepping our beds for planting as well as constructing some new raised beds. Hopefully in our next news letter I will be able to share some before and after pictures of some of our large project as they wrap up. Fingers crossed on the weather. 

Designing your garden

Now is the time to plan. Get some graph paper, a ruler (or architect scale if you have one) and draw out your garden beds. I am still working on mine, I have created a scaled drawing of the annual growing spaces and I am currently play with ideas and planning what I am planting where.

This year we are adding a new growing space and doing an overhaul on the layout of another, those two upper areas will now be our main spaces to grow veggies for the family this season. Our annual garden in the back family garden will still have some food, but it will shift to be more of a family space, where our oldest daughter plans to grow flowers and some food as part of her “bit of earth”.

In addition to these drawings, I am working on reviewing and updating my a list of what needs starting when and if it needs the extra heat of a heat mat to get going, if it is fine in a cold frame or unheated greenhouse or if I will be direct seeding. Here I was hoping to have all this ready to share with this newsletter, but I will have to put up another blog post in the coming week(s) with both for you to take a peek. 

Starting Seeds

If you haven’t ordered your seeds yet, don’t wait, sit down to it and don’t worry if you ordered too many tomatoes or don’t know where you will plant that watermelon variety you couldn’t resist picking up, trying new varieties is half the fun of it.  

This month I will be begin starting a lot of seeds. For Essex, if you plan on Mid May for last frost, say Sunday May 16th (usually you will see a range, for example May 8-May 17 is predicted to be the last frost window), then this Sunday, March 7th we are already 10 weeks to last frost! This week I plan to start Eggplants and Peppers, indoors, on heat mats, these need the heat to germinate. Other seeds I will hope to sow this week are leeks and celery. And then by the end of the month I will have sown dahlia’s (a variety call Bishop’s Child that I both save the tubers and start from seed because I simply love it!), snap dragon, marigold, zinnia, calendula, rudbeckia, parsley, thyme, mints, sage, broccoli, tomatoes, ground cherries, alpine strawberries, sweet peas, snap peas, and more!

Prep your seed starting supplies and growing spaces. 

This week I will be cleaning the greenhouse, washing any residue off the polycarbonate panels. This residue can build up and it reduces the amount of sun coming through, so it needs a good scrub. 

Then I will be clearing out winter greens in the next few weeks and setting up the tables. Indoors, I will be creating make shift table around the house with grow lights to start some seeds that need extra warmth indoors. 

You can start seeds in a good sunny south facing window sill, but I have found that you may still need to supplement with grow lights depending on how much sun the window gets, you need a good 8 hrs, as the seedlings need all the light they can get to grow properly and not get “leggy”. You can get grow lights pretty inexpensively these days, so it might be a good idea to invest in a few. 

Pull out seed trays and clean those and pick up all your seed starting supplies. We use a wide range of things for seed starting, from plastic trays, to upcycled finds, to paper pots and biodegradable grow bags. I honestly don’t have a favorite, all have their benefits and draw backs. My goal each year is to try take care of and use and reuse the plastic so it last a really long time and to find other ways to start seeds without creating waste. One thing to say, don’t use peat products. While they work very well, biodegrade nicely and add nutrients to your soil, the harvest of peat is extremely unsustainable. The peat bogs are being depleted at an alarming rate and they take an extremely long time to grow. So just check that those brown pots are paper pulp or some other material but are peat free. 

While you can start seeds in potting soil or even garden soil if that is what you got, they will enjoy a boost from added nutrients. I recommend picking up an organic seed starting mix. You can make your own as well by mixing together a bit of your garden soil with compost, worm castings, vermiculite and perlite. These mixed together give your soil added nutrients, keeps it from being too heavy, lets it drain, and has a little bit of the microbe life of your very own garden.  

Order Bare rooted trees and shrubs

If you haven’t done so yet (some nurseries require you to place your order by mid January) then now is your last chance. Bare root is a great way to go, you have access to a much wider selection, the plants are field grown so there is no risk of being root bound and are usually much less expensive. One of our favorite nurseries that you can still order from is Raintree Nursery. We also have order many berries from Norse Farm in western mass. I have been very pleasantly surprised again and again by the size and quality of trees from Stark brothers, they are a great option with relatively low shipping costs. But don’t wait, you only have a this month and next to get bare rooted plants, they are only available in winter / early spring as the plant will be shipped straight to you without soil and the plant must be dormant.

Pruning late flowering Clematis

If you grow clematis and it flowers in late summer and into autumn, then you have late flowering clematis. Late flowering Clematis produces all its flowers on the new growth from the spring. Prune your clematis down to about two feet, make sure you leave at least 2 healthily buds. If you have early flowering clematis, do not prune, though you won’t hurt it by bringing it down, you will dramatically reduce your flowers. 

Pruning Rose

I think people are a little afraid of roses, I have been told many times that roses are tricky or difficult. And while I am new to growing rose, I have thus far found that to not be the case. I have found roses to be tough and to respond well to pruning, even if you don’t get it all right. 

First determine what type of rose you have, Hybrid Roses, Shrub Rose, Climbing Rose (true climber and then ramblers).

Hybrid Roses flower on new growth. So they can be pruned more vigorously. Start with dead, disease, damaged, crossing and weak growth. The ultimate form is an open bowl shape.

Shrub Roses need very little pruning, you are looking to maintain shape / form and to prune out dead, diseased or damaged branches, as well as any that are crossing / rubbing. 

True Climbing Roses typically have single, larger flowers over a longer bloom time. The goal is to have a framework of long stems, trained laterally with side branches. The side branches will contain the new growth of the spring and then the flowers that bloom in summer into autumn. They say you can remove about 1/3 of the plant each year, starting with the woodiest growth, so that the plant is constantly renewing itself. 

Ramblers typically have clusters of smaller, simpler blooms that bloom once and then it is done for the season. These roses are very robust and need little pruning. It is best to wait to prune these until after they flower, and then pruning them to train them to ramble on what you will have them. 

Cut Back Ornamental Grasses

We leave the deciduous grasses (miscanthus, calamagrostis, and deschampsia) up all winter, if they produce seed heads, those are utilized by the birds, and it is nice to have their vertical presence for as long as it last. But now is the time , you want to cut them back hard to the ground now, before new green shoots grow too long. Once you finish, give them a good mulch and they will be very happy. If you are thinking of dividing them, wait, grasses don’t particularly love cold wet soil, so wait until later, May or June to dig up and divide.

Feeding the Birds

Don’t forget about our winged friends, they are starting their nest building and mating, so leaving out bird seed now can help them through the early spring when their food sources are more scarce. If it is above freeze, I like to set out water for them to drink / splash in. Plus, it is just lovely to have bids in the garden.

Let me just say one caveat with all the garden jobs…there is the ideal for everything, when it should happen and how it should happen, but you know, part of the fun is the process, so don’t fret if you don’t prune this year or start your tomatoes two weeks later, of course then plants won’t do as well, but it will be ok. Enjoy the process and happy coming of Spring!