I had a gardener tell me she wanted to plant cabbage because they need to be in when it is cool out. I was so surprised because she has gardened for many years. This was said we were still in March. I wanted to share with you today 3 things we need to know it is ready to plant the garden.
First of all is the soil is ready? Plant early spring vegetables when soil is workable.
Soil is ready for gardening once it crumbles easily. Soil that is too wet is easily compacted, reducing beneficial soil aeration. Common early spring crops are peas, spinach, lettuces and leeks. For a prolonged harvest, plant several varieties, each with a different maturation date. Follow these crops with broccoli, cabbage, radishes, kale, turnips, new potatoes and onions. If you take a handful of dirt and it doesn't crumble and stay is a ball then it is still too wet. IF you work up the garden when it is too wet, you will be fighting clumps all season long.
Second what is the soil temperature? If you want to get your vegetable garden off to a fast start, you need to plant your seeds in soil that's warm enough to ensure good germination. For each type of seed — beans, carrots, lettuce — there is a range of temperatures at which that particular type of seed will germinate (see the chart at right). Beans, for example, will only germinate if the soil temperature is above 60 degrees F and no warmer than 95 degrees F.
Here is a chart to give you an idea of how warm the soil should be.
Here is a chart to give you an idea of how warm the soil should be.
Practical soil temperature for planting
40 degrees 50 degrees 60 degrees 70 degrees
Beets Turnip Cucumbers Cantaloupe
Carrots Cabbage Peppers Squash
Lettuce Swiss chard Beans
Parsley corn watermelon
radishes tomatoes Okra
spinach carrot Eggplant
peas cauliflower
parsnip Pumpkins
onion
celery
leek
Remember this is soil temperature. In upcoming articles, I will let you know how to take soil temperature, as I have to research and try it myself first.
information from http://www.gardeners.com/how-to/when-is-it-warm-enough-to-plant/9029.html
Third is patience. We are so ready to plant our garden that we have to have patience for planting and really for the whole season. When things are ready, then they are ready to plant, grow and produce. Practice being patient is hard, I know...Till next time, this is Becky Litterer from Becky's Greenhouse, Dougherty Iowa
