Sowing Hope: the Seeds of March are the Radishes of April

Happy Spring!!!

Every year for the past five years, I’ve continued to ask the question, How early is too early to start sowing seeds directly in my soil?

And I want each and every one of you who’s reading this to start asking yourself this question and testing it in your gardens too. Because the answer that keeps revealing itself is that my season could be even earlier than I think — still — even after all my years of experimenting. This is why I love to garden. The learning is truly perennial, and novel each year. Even though I push my zones as hard as I can with as little extra resources or work (I really hate working in the cold, it wreaks havoc on my fibro joint pain and sets me back days), I continue to wonder how much earlier I could be sowing things because I keep sowing things earlier and it keeps working.

I sowed my earliest uncovered radishes, arugula, cilantro and baby bok choy on March 19, the last day of winter. I had a terrible migrane and it was all the gardening I was able to accomplish. It got me moving, outside in the fresh air, and renewed my spirit even though my body was aching. This is not the earliest I’ve direct sowed seeds, but it is the earliest I’ve direct sowed seeds uncovered. It’s a wonderful experiment and I am determined to not cover or coddle them. I want nature to show me what’s possible. The soil temperatures were reading well above 50F even deeper than an inch, which means, with a little luck, now that the dark compost-topped beds are snow free, they should continue to warm every day this week. We’ve got critical mass.

You see, four years ago I sowed seeds on March 20, the vernal equinox, and I thought I was pretty bad ass for doing that under my low tunnel. The next year it was warm early so I bumped it up to March 15 and felt utterly jubilant because there was still feet of snow around me while the soil inside the low tunnel was in the 40s. Last year was insanely warm early and I went for it on March 9, again under the protection of our low tunnel. That was just a little over a week after we covered the bed with our plastic. That just sounds ridiculous even to me.

But that’s just the thing. Seeds want to grow. And when we sow the right seeds at the right time, they will thrive.

Now is the time to sow ALL our favorite tasty greens, quick radishes, bunching onions, and heck, while we’re at it, let’s soak our peas and toss them into the ground too. I usually don’t sow my peas until April 1, another mentally rewarding early season tradition that reliably yields peas for us in plentitude by mid- to late June. I decided tonight I’ll overnight soak some peas this week, and sow them under a light row cover to give them a little head start and protection. We are dipping into the low 20s later this week, and so they will definitely appreciate a little row cover.

You see how I’m just sort of winging this year to year? I study my forecasts, take soil temperatures with our meat thermometer, and let my own curiosity and energy levels drive what I focus on. Each year is quite different, with new foods proving they are the cold hardy champions. It’s a real joy to grow alongside the seeds I tend, and I hope you are energized for a bountiful spring garden to kick your season off right.

What’s inevitable is all these foods will be unhappy when heat waves descend. And, my garden is rather bare and foodless right now, so space abounds for these quick foods. Even if my garden were smaller, and probably especially if it was, I would be implementing this strategy. We could easily carve out space for our tomatoes in May if our bok choy, cilantro and arugula was still producing, as those plants live at different heights and can cohabitate for a little while.

Like I said in my book, may the early radish win! Here’s to April Radishes.