Spring 2020 is only 20 days away. Robins are appearing on the lawn even though some have been around all winter. We believe our winters are mild enough and they are smart enough and tough to survive and thrive by holin’ up and hunkering down in sheds, barns, and inside hollow logs and trees. With the insects that winter over they have no problem with food supply. The number of days that the ground is frozen are so few that they can survive most days on worms and grubs. We love them and they are a welcome sight during winter as well as all year long.
Setting out a row of spring onion sets. As we begin the month of March, the time for setting out a row or bed of onion sets has arrived. The cool soil temeratures of early March will produce a great harvest of scallions to enjoy with the greens of spring in the garden plot. A pound of sets costs around $3 and you can choose from red, white, of yellow sets.
Plant onion sets about 3 or 4 inches apart in a furrow about 3 to 4 inches deep. Apply a layer of peat moss in bottom of furrow, then place onion sets 3 to 4 inches apart in the furrow. Add another layer of peat moss on the sets before covering with soil and tamp them down with the hoe blade. Always plant onion sets with root end down and the pointed top up. They should sprout in about two or three weeks. After they sprout, apply Plant-Tone organic vegetable food on each side and hill up the soil to cover the plant food. Use Miracle-Gro plant food as the sets continue to grow taller and keep soil hilled up around the onion sets.
Still time to start a quickie lettuce crop. The cool nights of March will cause a row or bed of lettuce to thrive and produce a harvest in about 40 to 45 days. There are so many varieties of lettuce to choose from including Iceburg, Buttercrunch, Black seeded Simpson, Red Sails, Green Ice, Oak Leaf, and many others. Plant tiny lettuce seed in a furrow about two inches deep and cover with a layer of peat moss before covering with soil and tamping down with the hoe blade. When the lettuce sprouts in about ten days, apply Mircale-Gro liquid vegetable food once a week.
Mowing down the pesky wild onions. Undesirable green spikes are appearing on the lawn in the form of wild onions. They only thing beneficial about them is the fact that they are green. These pesky, spiked green menaces have a root system several inches deep which makes it very difficult to dig them up. One great solution to the onion problem is to use the weed trimmer and trim them to ground level on the barren zodiacal moon sign of Leo, the Lion. You will not get rid of the onions but you will stunt their growth.
The fragrant perfume of the hyacinth. From the front porch on a pre-spring morning, the fragrance of sweet hyacinths emit to the breeze and display colors of red, white, pink, yellow, and lavender. Of all the spring flowering bulbs, hyacinth is most fragrant and colorful.
The golden glow of early spring jonquils. There is gold in the hills, lawns, and woodlands of the Piedmont. We love to see them in the old vacant homeplaces of Piedmont Carolina countrysides. They are a pleasant memory of families who set these bulbs out as their children grew up in farmhouses of Surry and Stokes counties. Patches of jonquils at old farms and homesteads are certainly beautiful and speak volumes about families who not only made their living at these homeplaces but took time to make them beautiful. An investment in a bed of jonquils is an investment in time and a gift that produces heirlooms year after year.
Lion and lamb personality of March. The month of March can produce a split personality between that of a roaring lion and of a gentle lamb, and sometimes a bit of both in the same day. It is the month of spring’s arrival with a side dish of winter. We can also have a huge snowfall thrown in for good measure. Whatever March blows in each day is a little bit closer to springtime.
Planting a row or two of English peas. English peas will thrive in the cold soil of March and April and produce a harvest in about 55 days. They are nitrogen-rich and require zero plant food or fertilizer. There will be no weed problem with English peas and the ones that do show up can easily be pulled up. A pound of seed will sow a 50-foot row. You can choose from Green Arrow, Alaska, Wando, Snowbird, and Masterpiece. Another plus of English peas is that they have very few insect pests. Snow and cold weather has no adverse effect on them. To sow peas, prepare a furrow about three or four inches deep, sow the seed and apply a layer of peat moss on the seed and hill up soil on each side of the furrow and tamp down with a hoe blade. As they grow, hill up soil on both sides to support against March wind. They produce most of their harvest almost all at one time. They will not interfere with any warm weather vegetable crops.
Can the March wind blow in some snow? Yes, it can! We have had some huge snowfalls during the month of March. Whether we get March snowfall or not cool weather vegetables such as broccoli, cabbage, lettuce, raddish and Irish potatoes or English peas can still be planted all during March when the soil is workable. Snow can actually be good for cool weather vegetables because it soaks into the soil and has a trace of nutrients that benefit the vegetables.
The almanac for month of March. The moon reaches its first quarter Monday, March 2. Daylight Savings Time begins at 2 a.m. on Sunday, March 8. Don’t forget to set your clocks forward one hour before going to bed Saturday night. The moon will be full on Monday, March 9. The full moon of March is named “Full Worm Moon.” The moon reaches its last quarter on Monday, March 16. Saint Patrick’s Day will be on Tuesday, March 17. The first full day of spring will be Friday, March 20. There will be a new moon on the evening of March 24.
Hoe Hoe Hoedown: Interesting Fact – The world is full of men who started out doing homework for girls, and they ended up doing housework!
Interesting Solution — The wife told her best friend “There was a broken lock on the front door. The only way I could get my husband to repair it was to tell him my mother was coming for a visit.”
Digging out of the garden – Faye: “Do you know what happens every time I ask my husband to plant a garden?” Kaye: “No, what does he do?” Faye: “Well, the first thing he does is dig up an excuse!”
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Source: https://www.mtairynews.com
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