A lot went on in the garden in March. The early Spring was definitely showing. We did a lot of work in the garden, but nature was really doing the harder tasks.
The blueberries are all budding out to various degrees. We have 7 bushes now and they vary from early fruit bearers to late. Our first group, now several years old, are looking fantastic now. The middle group, looking a bit ratty. The last group, only a year or so old, look so so. It’s early to tell what they will all end up like and since we’ve long forgotten which plant is which, we just have to wait for fruit.
We started seeds inside this month with varying success. Some are still working in the dirt, other popped up seedlings right away! We have limited space inside suitable for seed starting, so we are planning on doing it in waves. Right now, based on what seeds sprouted, we will have a good pea crop!
We also have our small jackfruit forrest in increasingly larger pots. We are excited for it to be warm enough for them to go outside on a more regular basis. In March, we took them out for sun sun on warm days.
Outside, we took some time to clean flower beds, divide and repot some of our decorative plants, checking on what’s growing in the herb pots, and turn and refresh the veggie beds.
There were a few items that we left in certain beds. We have an orange sage plant that is going strong and we basically just leave alone. Our spinach from last year is still producing (don’t mind the arugula spike). We want to leave it and see how it goes. We also transplanted an overgrown kitchen onion that has been in a bed since last Summer.
Next, we got to planting! We love to support local farm markets by buying their baby veg. Right before we went into lock down, we made sure to buy up some items as we weren’t sure if farm markets would be open. As of writing this, the farm markets and farms are considered essential so we look forward to braving out for more plants in April. Hooray!
We planted about 1 and 1/2 beds with the veg we bought, leaving room for tomatoes, peppers, and our seeds once they were ready to plant. We also planted some veg in pots to see how they would fair. We planted one bed with all herbs as well. In the past, we have kept our herbs in pots, but are hoping to get a longer season from them this year, so are trying them out in beds.
One thing we love to do on our daily walks is keep an eye out for other gardens in the neighborhood. Look at these beautiful raised beds in Loch Arbor! Checking out our fellow gardeners is great for inspiration. We also love to see who has their gardens in the front yard, as we get some side eye for keeping beds in the front. We are very much of the food not lawns mentality, tho, so we don’t mind having to explain that.
The last few days of March were spent tending to our new plants in the garden and seedlings in the house. It’s been rainy and grey, so we are hoping they all get enough sun to grow big and strong!
What was your garden like in March?