March
Spring seems to come earlier and earlier. The sixty-degree days in February and seventy-(!!) degree days this month have been goosing me along: Wake up! There’s not much time left before it gets really busy! The good news is, we’ve already gotten a lot done. After a small trial last year, we’re going to be growing hundreds of lisianthus this year! The baby plants we ordered have arrived and been tucked into their homes to grow nice strong roots before the heat of early spring and summer arrive. I believe they are Tom Hoffman’s favorite, so it’ll be good to have them growing on the property again. We are pushing the bounds of winter planting and continuing to transplant out hardy annuals like snapdragons, statice, feverfew, and ammobium. With the ground remaining unfrozen we’ve been able to plant astilbe, bleeding hearts, hellebores, and more sedum into our fields. Remember the shady rows I wrote about last month? All filled up! I’m starting to like the idea of being the cut shade plant Queen. If you’ve been thinking about adding some perennials to your garden, now is a great time to do it.
The hoop house is awash in anemones and the ranunculus are starting to get going. The deer are already doing their best to remind us that the whole of nature is not ours and we are not guaranteed anything. They stage weekly raids and have been especially keen on the bachelor’s buttons, bupleurum and campanula. It’s a constant game of trying to keep them out-am I smarter than a hungry deer? Our foxes, whom I love, bite little holes in our deer fence which then become places the deer can push under. I sometimes imagine them working together, breaking in and then going off in different directions-you grab the voles and I’ll get these campanula! I grew up in a deer infested corner of the south where every subdivision had a little patch of pansies at the entrance over the winter, completely obscured by hoops covered in bird netting. We used to laugh-what is the point of that? WELL now that’s exactly what the tulip beds look like here on the farm so joke’s on me.
Last call if you want to join our CSA! The window to join closes March 31st. If you’ve been meaning to, but just haven’t gotten around to it click HERE. We’ve already technically filled up all the spaces I was planning to offer for the spring, but the fields are looking good and the more the merrier, so I decided to add just few more slots. I cannot WAIT to see your smiling faces. I love dropping bouquets at Each Peach and Butlers, but nothing compares to actually seeing the person who is going to love those flowers holding them in their hands. First pickup will be April 12th. Don’t worry about remembering-I’ll send a reminder via email so you don’t miss it!
Garden Jobs for the Month: This is a great month to focus in on your perennials-divide them, move them, weed, and then mulch them. You could add a few too!