Jobs for the Month - March

March can be a bit of a treadmill - sow seeds, prick out seedlings, pot on young plants, and repeat. I love it! And all the spring tree blossom that is everywhere, too.

Into this frenzy of activity we have to fit in the first cuts of the grass, although as both January and February were so warm and dry, many have already started around here. 

Just remember to avoid mowing if the weather is likely to turn frosty, and bear in mind that early flowers in the grass such as dandelions and lesser celandine are essential to nectar-seeking insects that may be emerging early, fooled by the unseasonally warm weather. They may find little else to eat and starve.

March is also a good time to plant trees and shrubs, although less good than the autumn. The soil should be warming up enough to get the roots growing away happily and the spring rains will keep the plants moist. But don't be complacent: to establish really well, trees and shrubs will need watering in dry conditions right through until the end of the growing season, September or October. If we have a hot and dry summer they will need watering. A lot of watering! Having just planted nine field maples (acer campestre) and with another eleven to go, I'll be busy with the watering can this summer, and doing a rain dance or two.



So on my To Sow list for March - 

• Tomatoes (16 varieties)
• Tomatillo
• Sweetcorn
• Summer squash
• Pumpkins
• Radish (twice)
• Radicchio
• Peas
• Parsnip
• Onions
• Melon
• Okra
• Mustard greens
• Lettuce (twice)
• Kohlrabi
• Kale
• Haricot/French beans
• Cucumbers
• Celery
• Celeriac
• Carrots (twice)
• Wong bok
• Summer cabbage (2 different varieties, 2 weeks apart)
• Brussels sprouts
• Sprouting broccoli
• Beetroot (4 different varieties, two of them twice)
• Herbs - various basils, parsley, coriander, shiso
• Flowers - sunflowers, cosmos, tagetes, calendula (marigolds), belle du jour, rudbeckia, zinnia

March is by far the heaviest month for sowing, and as much of it needs to be done in the warmth indoors my living room gets very full.

As well as sowing, I'll be moving on chillies sown earlier, pricking out the seedlings once they are growing on nicely and have at least one pair of 'true leaves'. The adult leaves of a plant often look very different to those of the seedlings and only appear when the plant is getting enough food from its roots, while seedling leaves are grown using the energy stored in the seed. We can prick out the seedlings into individual pots only once they have true leaves because this is an indication that the plant has started to establish a productive root system and will survive the trauma of pricking out. There'll be more about the pros and cons of this method in another blog. If I have time!

With the first two weeks of the month looking very wet and stormy, I may well be having to adapt the schedule. I've learnt to my cost to not be too fixated by the timetable; this is nature, albeit a tamed version, and we have to work with what we're given, something that is going to be far more important in the coming years.

Spring harvest includes such treasures as asparagus and globe artichokes; asparagus may traditionally be a May harvest, but with the first spears coming through already and a six week limit on cutting the spears to avoid exhausting the plants, we just have to go with whatever the season throws at us.

Happy March!