The Great Things About March

            The madman is excited. March is full of great gardening events. His head is ready to explode with all the excitement. As you read this, we are on the cusp of the first great thing. In about 10 weeks, it will be May 15. And, May 15 is the madman’s estimate for the last spring frost here in Connecticut. Some of our seeds have to be started now, no question about it.

Pansies and Peppers

            If the madman wasn’t plagued by the Imported Cabbage Moth, he would have already started Brussels Sprouts and Cauliflower. But, we rely on local farmers’ markets to cover this for us since we don’t like to pick little green caterpillars out of our food. That’s why the 10 week mark is so significant. Other than pansies and hot peppers, we don’t grow plants that need to be started much sooner than now.

            Back in January, we gave you a list of seed starting supplies you should begin gathering. Now is the time to get busy. The madman is going around with a song in his heart and a smile on his face. His supplies are ready to go.

Eggplants

            At the 10 week mark, he has pulled out a handful of seed packets. Eggplant first. Over the years, the madman has branched out from the large Black Beauty types found in supermarkets to smaller round Mediterranean types and long thin Asian varieties. After all, there are only two of us now and these are wonderful in summer stir-fries on the grill. During his experiments germinating hot pepper seeds, the madman read that other solanaceaes like eggplants and tomatoes would also benefit from a good soak in Potassium Nitrate. We’ll see if it helps. As an aside, Potassium Nitrate is commonly used as a plant fertilizer.

March Starting Plan

            Along with eggplant seeds, he will be starting parsley, Datura and his suicide tomatoes. While he’s in the starting mood I’ll ask real nice if he’ll add lobelia and salvia to the list. Lots of other seeds should be started at the 10 week mark. Best way to determine when to plant each variety you plan to grow is to read the back of the seed packet. If it says “start indoors 10 weeks before last frost,” now is the time to do it. Here is a good starting calendar from Fruition Seeds. But, don’t rush planting other seeds or you’ll end up with long, spindly transplants that will spend the rest of their lives trying to catch up.

To the Devil with Parsley

            Germinating parsley has always been a challenge for the madman. My mother always said it had to go to the Devil and back nine times before it germinated. She always poured boiling water over the seeds and soaked them overnight before planting. I guess she thought the boiling water counted for a few trips. The madman will start both curled and flat leaf varieties and is thinking of soaking the seeds overnight in his magic solution of Potassium Nitrate. We have an abundance of both seeds and solution.

Since Datura and tomatoes are solaneceaes, I suspect he’ll do a soak before planting. My salvia doesn’t need any special treatment, but lobelia needs light to germinate. Both should be kept moist, like all the seeds in the madman’s care.

Shifting into High Gear in March

            At the 8 week mark (March 20) the madman will definitely be getting into seed-starting high gear. Between this date and the 4 week mark, he’ll have lots of plants to start. The key thing to remember here is that once seeds sprout, they need light to grow – good strong light. Not light found on a window sill. We have the madman’s greenhouse, and lots of grow lights, both florescent and LED, to encourage healthy growth. But, we get ahead of ourselves. At the eight week mark, he’ll sow seeds of tomatoes, zinnias, most of our herbs and the flowers I need for the moon garden and the back beds. I hope we have the room for all of these. If the weather is above freezing we definitely will.

Daylight Saving Time in March

            Luckily the next great gardening event in March happens on March 14 – Daylight Saving Time (DST). Although it costs him an hour of sleep, the madman loves the extra hour of daylight at the end of the day. Exactly 103 years ago, on March 9, 1918, the United States enacted the Standard Time Act. This act created the U.S. Time Zones and set the standards of daylight saving laws. As we all know, in the spring, our clocks move forward one hour and in the fall, they go back one hour. (Unless, of course, you live in Arizona – the madman says no one knows what time it is in Arizona.)

            The history of daylight saving time goes back to George Hudson, a New Zealand entomologist who proposed the concept in 1895. His idea was that pushing the clocks forward gave him an extra hour after his workday to collect his bugs. When the madman worked, he did appreciate having that extra hour of daylight to spend outside. He thinks that he and George would have gotten along quite well.

Remember the Peas?

            Speaking of extra time in the garden, the next great gardening event on the calendar is March 17 – the madman’s annual Do I Plant the Peas? Struggle Day. He wakes up early with conflicting ideas in his mind. Tradition says that peas should be planted on St. Patrick’s Day. But, his new year’s resolution this year was to not rush the season. If he plants too early, seeds may rot. If he plants too late, he dreads the scorn from fellow Master Gardener and pea expert Maureen Gillis who insists that peas be planted on St. Patrick’s Day. He has roughly one week to come to grips with his plan of action.

            The reason for all this anguish is that peas are a cool weather crop, preferring the cooler spring and fall temperatures over the hot summer temperatures. All the guides say to plant as early in spring as possible, but the madman feels that soil temperature plays a big role. I just showed him our post from April 7, 2020 where we said that peas should be planted when the forsythia blooms outside (the blooms I forced don’t count). He nods his head in agreement, but I know that deep down he’s thinking of Maureen.

Spring Arrives in March

            The last great gardening event in March occurs around 5:37 on the morning of March 20. The vernal equinox, or the first day of spring. Call it what you want – it means the same. Actually equinox is Latin and means equality of day and night. The first day of spring was celebrated by our friends the Celts with their wheel of year as Ostara. On this day the fertility goddess, Éostre, sprung from the earth where she had been sleeping for the past few months. You know how this goes, light a big fire and celebrate. Spring is here!

            Not sure what the madman plans for a celebration. He has been watching a pair of very active Carolina Wrens. He thinks they are building a nest in our firewood pile. Knowing the madman, this might put a damper on our bonfire. That’s okay with me because shortly after the equinox we’ll be getting our second dose of COVID vaccine and this year, that’s a much bigger cause for celebration. We’ll just have to hit Bill up for some firewood.

            But, now it’s time for hot cocoa.