Working in the Spring Garden

Spring is my favorite season of the year. Preparing the soil, planting seeds and transplanting are the gardening activities I love most. Dreams are still untarnished, the realities of bugs, weeds, and drought so distant! Unfortunately, in my zone 4 garden, spring lasts about three weeks. As soon as winter is gone and the ground finally thaws out, temperatures climb into the mid-80s and it’s too hot to do much of anything except sip lemonade. With spring so short, I’m always left with a fistful of unplanted seed packets and an unsatisfied urge to dig.

Imagine having two springs each year rather than one. That’s what it’s like for gardeners in the southern states. Since few vegetable plants and annual flowers will tolerate extremely hot weather, most people start their gardens in March and plan to let them die out in mid-summer. Once temperatures have cooled down in early fall, it’s time to plant all over again for a second harvest that will be ready by early winter. The good news is that you don’t need to move south to enjoy a second spring. Even gardeners in zones 4 or 5 can enjoy springtime in September. Now’s the time to get started.

Head out to your garden and pull out any crops that have finished producing or are past their prime. Put the spent plants into your compost pile, add a shovel of compost to the bed, and fork it in. Then put in a second planting of lettuce, arugula, spinach, radishes, broccoli raab and beets. Gardeners in zones 5 and 6 may even want to try another crop of broccoli, carrots, or peas. If you don’t have seeds left over, call your favorite seed company. They’re still there, even in the summer, and will be glad to hear from you!

In my own spring garden, I cover all my August plantings with wire hoops and shade netting to keep the soil cool and moist. This speeds germination (lettuce won’t germinate in soil that’s too warm) and helps protect emerging plants from sun, heat and insects. Another trick I’ve discovered is to sow seeds in the shade of another plant (between broccoli plants works well). When the seedlings get big enough to handle, you can transplant them to whatever spaces you have. Just be sure to transplant late in the day (or in the rain), water well, and provide shade and extra moisture for a week or so.When you’re sowing seeds in August, it’s essential to water thoroughly after planting, then a little every day or two until the seeds germinate and the plants become well established. It’s fun to see how fast the seeds germinate – often within a couple of days. What a difference compared to how long it takes during early May when the soil is still cold.

I love this second spring season because it gives me the opportunity to work the soil and plant again. And after more than 20 years of gardening, I still get a thrill out of seeing the seeds I’ve planted break the soil’s surface. A late fall harvest is particularly sweet. If you haven’t had the pleasure of going out to gather picture-perfect salad greens in the cool days of September, you have a real treat ahead of you.

So take a tip from gardeners in the south. Pretend it’s spring rather than fall, and start anew. You can plant a new crop of lettuce and spinach tonight after dinner!