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Thursday, April 2, 2009

When Can I Plant My Vegetables?
Gardening Tips
This gardening information comes to us from a gardener in the stake.

Cool weather plantings
Some crops grow best when the soil and air temperatures are cooler.

Seeds for these crops will germinate when the soil temperatures
reach a certain point. The visual signal that the soil has reached the right temp is when the crocus bloom. So as soon as the soil can be worked, plant the peas, radishes, turnips, potatoes, onion seeds, spinach, and carrots. This is also a good time to plant raspberries, asparagus, chives, shallots, and strawberries.

The next visual clue will be when the tulips bloom. Conditions are now favorable to plant the “cabbage family” vegetables (cabbage, Kohlrabi, broccoli, brussels sprouts, cauliflower, etc.) kale, beets, onion sets, garlic, lettuce.

The final visual clue is the lilac blossoms. Now the conditions are favorable for planting the rest of the garden.

However, as this spring has well demonstrated, living in Montana calls for always keeping one eye on the thermometer and having frost blankets close at hand. If you do get caught by an unexpected frost, washing the frost off ( sprinklers do a good job) before the sun hits the plants will usually prevent the plant from being killed. Knowing the micro climate where you live is also really important. There are some parts of my yard that get frosted before others.

Happy gardening!

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