March: Summer in Spring

Sage greening back up nicely.

A little review of the March and the March garden (even though I'm writing this in April). All these photos were taken on March 25th. This years March should be called the 'summer in spring', because it was beyond unseasonably warm... and not just in my area, or this state or the Northeast... it was unseasonably warm for almost the whole country!!

Below is a map I found that illustrates just what sort of warm March weather I'm alluding to. It was crazy. In New York I remember it started with a week of almost consistent 60 F (highs) days followed by two more weeks of highs in the 70s to lower 80's- IN MARCH. The newspaper said that this March was the warmest on record for the 48 contiguous states (the record goes back to 1895).

An early spring? Yeah, you could say that. Not that I'm complaining, and not that many other folks were either (besides the worries about climate change)... we are used to wearing our winter jackets for awhile yet. I was convinced that after having a really mild winter (should we call it spring in winter?), with hardly any snow to speak of that we would be blasted with at least ONE blizzard in March (which usually seems to happen anyway with the slightly warmer/moister air). Nope. Instead people are eating ice cream on their porches in T- shirts and flocking to parks and garden centers. Personally, I was out in a tank top more than a few days working around the backyard (also munching on ice cream

Parsley coming back from a winter nap.

March was also very dry for my area. The garden hose had to be broken free from storage so that some plants and beds I had seeded could be kept moist. Yes, I planted seeds directly outside. On March 22nd I sowed some spinach and lettuce. On March 24th I planted peas amongst others (rutabaga, salsify, more lettuce, turnips, cilantro, and dill).

Believe me, I realized that it may have been too early for some of these guys to be planted, but if it happened to work- it was going to be worth the early harvest (esp. with the peas). After all, according to my records I usually planted these things in the first or second week of April anyway. So far the peas are the only thing I'm disappointed to not see germinating yet.

Catnip- Meow

What happened almost the very next day of taking all these photos was that our summer in spring began to turn back into typical spring. Highs returned in the 40's or sometimes 50's with freezing nighttime temperatures. The rosemary plant reluctantly came back into the kitchen. Most vegetation seemed to handle the transition well enough. However, for my seeds that I had just planted- this was probably going to be a setback for germination. What did just fine, though was a bit slow, was the spinach and lettuce. Its not growing very fast, but its not dying either. Turnips and rutabaga are also up and doing fine. 

Oregano

Doing just fine are all the veggies and herbs being pictured in this post. These are always welcome sights in spring. Nothing like realizing that your garden can keep on growing something at all times of the year. Sage, oregano, thyme (not pictured) are all bouncing back, flushing with greenness and vigor. Some of the parsley from 2011 is growing back too, though as soon as it gets going it will start to go to seed.

Kale

A good amount of kale made it through the winter and has been partly consumed by the humans already. A handful of leeks are rejuvenating themselves as well.

Leek

The garlic too is up and at 'em. I have to say the garlic is looking pretty darn good. We love love love garlic and I'm not sure why I don't plant more of it. I told my boyfriend last night that one of these days I'm going to plant garlic around the whole perimeter of the garden... because we love garlic so much and to keep away the vampires garden pests that like to suck devour our spring veggies.

GARLIC!