As March moves ahead, we can’t be sure if it’s going to snow or be mud season. Recent snows have buried any sprouts peeking up from bulbs such as irises, lilies, snow drops, and early crocuses.  Good news is that the added snow means more water availability come spring.  Nevertheless, there are some garden preparations we can be doing now, including planting onions and petunias!

If you haven’t yet pruned your fruit trees (apples, pears, cherries, etc.) any mild days might be your last chance to get the pruning done before the trees break dormancy.  After pruning them, give them a first spray coating of Dormant Oil to smother the over-wintering eggs left by last year’s pests.

For our winter salads we have been growing repeated cycles of seed sprouts (alfalfa, mung, arugula, kale, etc.) plus a tray of microgreens using the same seeds but with some soil to help them get bigger for baby leafy greens.  These are all very easy and don’t need any special equipment or lighting.  Here’s a helpful video about microgreens.

Last week (March 7-9) I planted my onion seeds (3 varieties: Ailsa Craig, Cipollini, and Patterson) along with four varieties of Wave Petunias (blue, purple, pink, & silver).  These plants are slow to start and require a long head start before transplanting out in late May.  Onion seedlings produce better & bigger onions and are much cheaper than sets (small bulbs grown from seeds last season), and come in more varieties than sets so, I think, are worth the extra effort.  You can also buy young onion seedlings ready to plant from many seed companies and garden stores later in the season.  Most other seeds should wait a bit longer before starting.  More on this in the next article.