Hi, this is Dan Frost, retired vegetable specialist from Utah State University. March has come in like a lamb, and I'm getting the gardening itch. We still have a bit of snow on the ground here in Cache County, but that will soon be gone.
March officially starts the planting season. I've got lettuce, spinach, and other greens started for transplanting later this month. I've also worked up some of the garden soil from last November. While it's still too wet to plant outdoors, that's where the carrots and the onions and the spinach and the peas and the lettuce will be planted. Generally, we get a dry window sometime during the month, and that's when I'll do those things.
Those of you that are living in the Salt Lake area or warmer regions of the state will have to watch and plant accordingly. I generally don't transplant until late in the month, or wait until early April, as cold weather is certainly going to damage those brassicas, cold hardy greens, and onions. Don't transplant too early, as many of these crops are biennials, and they'll go to flower if they get sufficient cold. Now is also a good time to get the rhubarb and asparagus bed set out, cut back the old top growth, dig out the weeds, and then generally clean up those areas, and then you'll be ready for them to come up later this month or into April.
You don't need to fertilize right away, wait until after you finished harvesting. That's a better time to do it, as the plant uses most of the energy stored in the root system to fuel spear growth and petiole growth for rhubarb.
So have a few things that you need to do this month. Enjoy the last of the winter, and think about getting that garden started. This is Dan Drost, and I'll talk to you again in April.
