Spring Week -4

Spring Color Dates Spring Color Dates
White Group February 1-7 Yellow Group Mar 29-Apr 4
Pink Group February 15-21 Green Group April 12-18
Red Group March 1-7 Blue Group Apr 26-May 2
Orange Group March 15-21 Violet Group May 10-16

To Do This Week

Start Seeds Inside Transplant Plants Plant Seeds Outside
Lettuce* Broccoli
Cabbage
Cauliflower*
Collard greens
Kale
Leeks
Onions*
Parsley
Swiss chard*
Spinach
Swiss chard*
Turnips
*New plant! This was added since the previous week.

If you haven’t created your garden plan and prepped your garden, it’s time!

Plan

  • Decide what veggies you want to plant, and how much of each.
  • Create a garden plan!  Use the tool linked here, or draw out your garden on paper, mapping out where each type of plant will go.

Prepare

Broccoli

Broccoli is a hardy vegetable that grows best in cool weather. Now is the time to plant broccoli transplants in the garden.

If you have started seeds inside, the transplants are ready when they have 4-6 true leaves. Be sure to harden off before planting in the garden.

Cabbage

Cabbage is a hardy vegetable that grows best in cool weather. Now is the time to plant cabbage transplants in the garden.

If you have started seeds inside, the transplants are ready when they have 4-6 true leaves. Be sure to harden off before planting in the garden.

Cauliflower

Cauliflower grows best in cool conditions, but it is sensitive to frost and warm temperatures. It’s time to transplant cauliflower into the garden. Whether you started your own or purchased plants from a store, be sure to harden off before planting in the garden.

Collard Greens

Collard greens are a hardy vegetable that grow best in cool weather. Now is the time to plant collard transplants in the garden.

If you have started seeds inside, be sure to harden off before planting in the garden.

Kale

Kale is a hardy vegetable that grows best in cool weather. Now is the time to plant kale transplants in the garden.

If you have started seeds inside, the transplants are ready when they have 4-6 true leaves. Be sure to harden off before planting in the garden.

Leeks

Whether you you started from seed or purchased them, leeks can be hardened off and transplanted now.

In raised garden beds leeks require at least 12″ of soil. Before planting, take out the soil until there is 6″ on the bottom and set it aside. Plant leeks 2-3″ deep in the soil, covering the stems up to the leaves. As they grow, gradually replace the soil–keep covering the stem so that only the leaves are exposed. This will blanch the stem, keeping it tender and edible.

Lettuce

Lettuce is a semi-hardy vegetable that grows best in cool weather or partial shade during the summer. Lettuce can be planted directly in the garden in about two weeks. To harvest lettuce sooner, start seeds inside now, or purchase transplants.

Some say lettuce can be started even sooner. If you want to try, keep in mind that lettuce can tolerate freezing temperatures, but won’t do well past 25°F

Onions

Onions are a hardy vegetable that grow best in cool weather. When planting onions, you have 3 options–seeds, sets, and transplants.

Now is the time to plant onion sets. These look like dry mini-onions. Plant them pointy side up. The smallest sets can be planted every 4-6″ (4 or 9 per square foot) to grow into mature onions. Plant the bigger onion sets every 3″ (16 per square) to grow green onions.

You can also harden off and put transplants in the garden now.

Parsley

Harden off and transplant parsley in the garden.

Spinach

Spinach is a hardy vegetable that grows best in cool weather. Plant spinach directly in the garden as soon as the ground is 40 degrees (not frozen) and you are able to work the soil.

Swiss chard

Swiss chard is a semi-hardy vegetable that grows well in many climates. Now is the time to plant swiss chard transplants in the garden.

If you have started seeds inside, the transplants are ready when they have 4-6 true leaves. Be sure to harden off before planting in the garden.

You can also plant swiss shard seeds directly in the garden now.

Turnips

Turnips are a hardy vegetable that grows well in cool conditions. Turnips are always grown from seed.