Looking Ahead | A Note from Rick Bogusch
March 19, 2025
By Rick Bogusch
Gardens and landscapes are waking up.
March is when it all begins, in fits and starts. Time to start cleaning up the vegetable garden, if you haven’t already, and get it ready for spring planting. With the sun stronger and days longer, soil is heating up enough to plant cool-weather crops like radish, arugula and spinach. Grow tunnels can speed up germination and reduce the number of days to harvest and are worth the investment. The spinach we planted in September and overwintered in tunnels and under frost blankets survived the bitter cold we had in February and is poised to produce a harvest in 3-4 weeks, after a side dressing of fertilizer and a good drenching with fish fertilizer. Besides the overwintered rows of spinach, we’re also happy to see a row of harvestable, 2-3-inch diameter turnips sowed last September in one of our tunnels. We pulled one and the turnip was crisp and sweet.
A soil thermometer comes in handy at this time of year. You can use the readings to determine when to plant. Beets need minimum soil temperatures in the 50’s, carrots need about the same, maybe a bit warmer and lettuce needs temperatures in the 60’s. Though the surface can be warmer on sunny days, we’re still in the 40’s right now and will be until at least the end of the month. If you want early crops, those grow tunnels are good for warming soil early, so crops like beets, carrots and lettuce can be sown earlier than usual.
While the variety of what we can sow and grow outside is limited at this time of year, there are many vegetables, herbs and flowers we can start indoors, especially if you have a greenhouse or grow lights. The general rule is to start seeds 6-8 weeks before they’ll be hardened off and planted outside in the garden.
March is a good time to start broccoli, cabbage and any cole crop for moving outside in late April. It’s still a bit early for tomatoes, peppers and eggplants, but it won’t be long. Starting them too early can lead to leggy, weak plants that have a hard time transitioning to full sun and wind and may not survive. When it’s warm and cloudy, we often move seedlings outside during the day and bring them for cool nights.
Gardens and landscapes are waking up. Red maples, whose flowers are usually overlooked, will soon be in bloom along the edges of woods and swamps, as well as along our streets. Here at Bridge Gardens, witch hazels are in full bloom, there are snow drops galore, crocus are starting and there’s the promise of many more flowering bulbs and early spring flowers to come.
So, it’s time for a visit soon! Remember, we’re open every day, 10:00 am - 3:00 pm now, 10:00 am - 4:00 pm starting March 21st.
Happy Spring!
Rick Bogusch
Garden Director, Bridge Gardens
rbogusch@peconiclandtrust.org