Welcome to the GRS Garden Project. Every month, my wife and I track how much time and money we spend growing food. This is the report for March 2011. (Here are the results for 2008 and the results for 2009. We rested in 2010.)
March is usually a time for Kris and me to get back to work in the garden. The weather warms, and we get to watch as our first sprouts poke through the soil. This year? Not so much. It was a cool, wet month.
The average temperature in March was about 46 degrees Fahrenheit — which is below normal for this time of year. In fact, Portland just had a record stretch between 60-degree days. The last such day came in early December. We usually get a couple of 60-degree days in February, but if the clouds hadn’t parted on the afternoon of March 31st, this year we wouldn’t have had a warm day until April.
Meanwhile, rainfall was nearly 75% above normal for the month. If that rain had all been concentrated over a few days, we might have done some work in the garden. But it wasn’t. It rained 28 days in March. Twenty of those days saw 1/10th of an inch of rain or more. It was so wet last month that the peas we planted after returning from Africa simply rotted in the ground. And now it’s too late to plant replacements. So, we probably won’t have peas this year. (Which is sad, because I love peas!)
As you’ve probably deduced, between the cool weather and the heavy rainfall, Kris and I did nothing on our garden in March. In fact, we did nothing in the yard. The lawn did get mowed — but not by us. It’s been far too wet for my mower. But we were making dinner last Monday night, when Kris asked, “Is somebody mowing the yard?”
Sure enough. There was the Real Millionaire Next Door on his riding lawnmower. I went outside to chat with him. He just got back from his winter in New Zealand (where it was summer, of course), and he’ll be here a month before heading north to Alaska. He’s like a migrating goose. But he’s a goose who mows our lawn and brings us salmon, so it’s always good to see him.
This garden update is pretty lame, I know. Trust me: There’ll be more to report for April. And May’s installment will be packed!
How’s the weather where you are? How does your garden grow?
You can read about my goals for this series in The year-long GRS project: How much does a garden really save?
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Ummm…it’s snowing (Colorado). We don’t garden until about Memorial Day.
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Ditto. I’m starting seeds inside, but nothing outdoors until late April or early May.
I’ll probably turn over the garden and coffee-ground it this coming weekend, though.
(Central NYS)
OTOH, we just started looking at houses. If if if we buy this year instead of reasonably-next-year, no need to put in a garden in the rental.
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It’s already 80 outside, 90 some days (in Central Texas). I’ve been wearing sleeveless sundresses and flip flops since February. On the downside, my county (and all the surrounding ones) have had a shortage of rain this year. Wanna send some of yours my way?
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I’d be grumbly about the rain we’ve been getting down here in GA, but my tomatoes have been loving it. We’ve added peas this year (sorry, I don’t mean to tease you, my daughter loves them), the fruit trees from last year’s plantings may actually produce something, and this year’s fruit bushes look promising for years to come.
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I usually start my peas on April Fool’s day, but we were expecting a Nor’Easter so I held off till today. I usually do a succession planting with my peas for 3 weeks so I can enjoy them as quickly as possible. Since I garden in beds that are raised 10″, when I know the Spring weather is going to be bad I haul out the agribon row cover. It’s great for protecting the plants and keeps the soil from getting very soggy.
My first sign of food was the tips of the rhubarb, I spotted today. I read about how to force rhubarb by putting a pot filled with compost over it so I’m experimenting with two plants this year. The spinach and watercress in the cold frame is just starting to sprout. The feeding of, “worm tea” which should help it along.
I noticed the peach tree has small buds on it which is so exciting. I’m adding another peach tree this year because they are my favorite fruit and jam. If you have the space, Kris, you should definitely consider adding one.
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I guess the rest of your summer could shape up differently than our summers do here in Minnesota, but I didn’t plant peas last year until May 6 and we had them in abundance.
We planted three kinds. Garden Pea Maestro, Snow Pea Oregon Sugar Pod II and Thomas Laxton, all from Burpee. I can’t remember how the Maestro did, but the Thomas Laxton and the Oregon Sugar Pod did GREAT.
If you like peas and you think the rain will cooperate, plant some more! A packet of seeds is less than $2.00 will at least give you a shot at delicious fresh peas!
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Your looking for spouts? I still have snow on my garden. Still a good four weeks away, before things get rolling around here. Although, I have tapped my maple tree. I have 12 gallons of sap so far, That should make about .3 gallons of genuine maple syrup.
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Plant the peas anyway!!! I’m just South of you in Canby and I grow peas almost all summer. I just got mine in the ground just yesterday.
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Hmmm. It’s snowing here in Ontario this evening with a temp of 0 degrees C. The snow shouldn’t last long since the temp is supposed to climb to 15 degrees C tomorrow. We are at least a month away from planting in the garden. I’m itching to get out there!
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It is different temperatures in different places!
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I’m in Minnesota, and we still have snow melting off the ground. It’s mostly gone but not quite. It’ll be another few weeks before I get around to planting. This year, we’ll be gone for the whole month of July, so I think we are mostly doing flowers. Our tulips are just starting to come out of the ground (yay!), and I’ll be putting in tons of seeds sometime in late April or early May. We’re looking at sunflowers & morning glories, mostly. It might be a lazy year. We’ll probably also start some raspberry canes and hope they take better than last year. Maybe I’ll go read more so that I don’t mess them up.
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In the Baltimore region it has been cooler than normal and we’ve had a lot of rainy days. It would be tough to plant much. There has been no need for lwan mowing yet and we have been able to get very little yard work done.
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Kansas here- 20 last Saturday, 90 yesterday and 31 tomorrow. I put in lavender yesterday and potted my seedlings in larger pots that can (and will-tomorrow) be brought in for a freeze. They will be put in the ground around the end of the month. We had five days of rain last week and will have five this week. Good for the winter wheat- not so great for a garden.
Looking forward to tomatoes and bell peppers. All this talk about peas- maybe I will start a few. Our local shops are running some great sales- replaces all of my garden tools for $25. from a shovel on down! That is one advantage to living in the heartland.
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I live in Florid and an blessed to garden year round. Summers are hard because of the heat, but what most people grow in full sun I do in half day shade.
Because of our sandy soil dries out quickly in the top inch, even with compost added, I do starters in degradable pots. I understand the problem with peas, I tried for six bush bean starters but only one sprouted. You should try some peas, just to see if they work, different things grow differently every year. I’m excited that my tomatoes just put out flowers.
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We are making a first attempt at a planter garden on our new balcony – I started herb seeds about a week or so ago in a little plastic greenhouse on my kitchen counter, and *just* planted lettuce seeds yesterday because there was no freeze in the 10 day forecast, finally. I had bought two cherry tomato plants but I am not sure if they’ll make it in the pots long enough to be planted…
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Weather here in CT is still way to cold for planting but my garlic overwintered nicely and is starting to peek up.
I have 2,000 tomato plants started in a small greenhouse this year, my attempt at turning my hobby into an income stream as mentioned in today’s article.
I grow potatoes in plastic bags, carrots in old tires, eggplant in old plastic storage bins and anything else that comes my way.
It’s not too late for your peas, and you should be planting them every two weeks if you don’t want them all at once. Keep at it JD, it’s a great hobby and a benefit to your family’s health!
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Um – we had a foot of snow on Saturday, but it will likely be melted by Wednesday. Unfortunately our frost free days run from about the first week of June through the last week of August (with the occasional frost any day of the year… I love living near the mountains, but this is what we put up with). I’m just thinking about setting up my grow lights and starting my tomatoes to transplant outside in June, and ordering any seeds for the hardier plants like Kale, peas, beets & carrots.
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You may have thought of this already, but it isn’t too late for peas! Start some inside… Our last frost in my neck of the woods isn’t until the first week of may, but we already have 5 healthy, strong snap pea plants sitting in their peat pots ready to go!
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Also, I read a comment about garlic and it made me think of my onions. Two of mine survived the winter, and are about 1′ tall now, and another one must have fallen off the deck railing where I had laid them, because there is a huge onion growing in the middle of my hosta bed now. LOL! My swiss chard survived also, and the tarragon is going to be HUGE this year. I usually will “bank” my veggie gardens with tons of leaves over winter, and they usually do really well.
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I’m in the Willamette Valley also. I planted peas yesterday. It is a long shot, but I’m willing to try it. Maybe we won’t get hot weather until july??? Hope it is a better weather year for the garden. Last year was difficult.
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Still fighting intermittent snow in western PA, but my basement is chock full of seedlings. Hopefully the weather cooperates soon and I can get my own peas planted…I’m really looking forward to my first fully homegrown stir-fry of the year.
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March has been a crummy month for me too. There is always April!
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Went out yesterday to look at the peas and found the a tiny baby slug had the audacity to chop them down and not eat the rest of the plant, like it was mocking me! Oh well. For the warm loving tomato and pepper plants they are doing great in the garage. (They are in an enclosed box with shop lights).
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March had 3 warm days for us here in NorthEast Ohio! The last week of March gave us snow and freezing cold weather. I got strawberry plants in the mail to plant in the garden but I am so glad I put them in pots and have them under a grow lamp inside. I will wait for a few more weeks until I know for certain no more snow and freezing weather!
Oh, and we had two floods the first week of March.
Weird month, and nothing but dirt-tilling has been done in our garden.
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So did you sprout your peas before you planted them? It’s not too late to sprout them and get them planted!
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We usually get snow up until the end of May (we’re in the far north of BC), so I just start everything inside in pots. I have beans sprouting right now, but they won’t be moved outside until the first week of June probably. We also have a similar problem to yours – it’s not the rain that drowns everything but the melting of a whole winter’s worth of snow in about a week (there’s about 5 feet of snow in our backyard right now!).
You still have plenty of time to try again!
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I have six pineapples in fruit and a handful of Jalapenos. Of course, I live in South Fl so the majority of our gardening is done until the fall now.
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I’m in Dallas and just yesterday harvested the first Sugar Snap Pea on the plants. Put it in a salad with our thriving salad greens – delicious! We’ve also harvested cabbage, kale and chard lately. Some of the tomatoes have baby fruits on them so we have to wait for those. I love picking things from the garden!
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We planted our garden a week ago. Then, Sunday evening we had a horrible hail storm that killed all but one of my seedlings I’d put outside. Thankfully the seeds that were in the ground should be ok still. I’ll have to start all the seedlings over though, but we’re expecting another major hail storm, so maybe I’ll wait another week or two. (and hopefully no more broken windows this time!)
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can I be friends with your millionare next door?
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