Early March: Starting Your Veg Garden Journey

Seedlings

Today (early March) we are covering the basics of starting seeds and planning your garden.

What to Plant

Starting with getting some of your seeds started indoors, here is an introduction to seed starting by the National Gardening Association.

Only a few things need to be started inside in March and early April.  Things like tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants are all warm-weather plants that need to be started early to be big enough to really take off when you plant them outside in May.  They can be started inside now.

Be sure to use sterilized seed starter to avoid a situation called damping off, which is caused by a bacteria found in garden soils.

You can use old seed trays; just be sure to wash them with a weak bleach solution first. Alternatively, you can use egg cartons or other containers you have around. Just be sure to poke drainage holes if the container isn’t porous. Another option is to make pots with newspapers.

No Need to Take On Too Much 

If you are new to this, pick just a few things. Leafy greens are nutrient-dense, easy to grow, and don’t take long to get a harvest. We suggest lettuce, chard, and beets as a good first attempt at gardening. You can add a few more veggies in every two weeks as you create more space for growing.

When to Plant

Plenty of seeds can be directly put in the ground when the weather/temperature is appropriate. In late March, the following seeds can be planted in your Cape Cod garden or in containers outdoors:

• Peas

• Beets

• Chard

• Carrots 

• Lettuce

• Spinach

Here is a chart that shows when to plant various crops on Cape Cod:

Here are some things to consider as you start planning your garden:

Garden Location

When you are starting to think about where to locate your garden, here is a good video to get you thinking about all the factors.

Raised Beds or Not

On Cape Cod, we generally have sandy soil.  Some people will have pockets of clay as well. Building raised beds is one solution, but sheet mulching is another approach.  

Here is a video on the pros and cons of raised beds.

Here is a blog post that demonstrate a technique we use a lot at Resilient Roots: sheet mulching! You can sheet mulch in your raised bed—ponder that!

​Also, here is a video about a school that sheet mulched a large area of lawn to create permaculture gardens to supply food for the school. Very inspiring!

So get your seeds and supplies ordered or pick them up at one of our local garden centers, and start planning where you want to start your garden or place your containers. We will be back next week to enlighten you with some more gardening tips.