Garden Chores – Early March Zone 5

1. If you can, beat the rush and buy your canning jars. There are a lot to chose from this time of year. No matter the size, design or quantity, nothing was out of stock. No rush when you beat it. Careful if you buy on Amazon. Thanks to a few broken jars, I only purchase the name brand jars on Amazon. Local stores, like ACE Hardware, sometimes do not stock canning jars until summer. Worth a look if you are in the store, however.
   
   
   
2. This week I will be starting the flowers I intend to plant in the front garden and hanging baskets. Snapdragons, coleus, stock flowers. I prefer the plants be ready to flower, if not beginning to flower, so I have that burst of color right away in mid-May. Or early May, in the case of snapdragons. I start my seeds indoors in underbed plastic bins with a heat mat. Yeah yeah, I need to complete that article. My seeds germinate within 5 days easy. Even most hot peppers. See Also #8 below.
   
   
   
3. The snow is melting, so on nicer days when you can actually see the ground, walk out your garden plan. I have my gardens all mapped out, yet one section is new, created last year, and very curvy. I was thinking five hot pepper plants would fit in one winding section. Nope, more like twelve hot pepper plants will fit! A lovely surprise.
   
   
   
4. While canning jars might be early and bountiful, stakes, grow lights and other garden equipment you may need are currently at their peak. Might need to rearrange any garden budget to grab those garden essential right away before they sell out. I bought 8′ stakes last March and there were only two to choose from if I wanted 25 stakes for under a hundred.
   
   
   
5. I keep hearing thunder as I write this. It’s the first thunder of the season and ANOTHER sign that garden season is right around the corner. If you could see my smile right now… EDIT: March 2023 checking in, we are predicted to have yet another foot of snow fall in two days. No?
   
   
   
6. Start checking your favorite youtubers and kick ass people with garden websites *cough* for garden content and subscribe! James Prigioni (zone 7) is a favorite, as is Mark’s Garden Life (zone 6-7) and Sharon’s Garden (zone 5). I’ll add mine once I have more content. Edit: It’s March 2023 and I have a small yet growing collection of puppy, garden and weather content! See Bottom of Article.
   
   
   
7. Start seeds for any early plants you want to keep in pots/harvest early. Start seeds for food that has a long ripening time, like the hottest peppers. In example, sugar rush peach will set a ton of fruit for me in July and August. Yet it takes two months (where I live) to reach that peach perfection of sweet and spicy. I start hot peppers by March 1st usually. I also want some sweet peppers and baby tomatoes to harvest in June, so I already started some Jasper tomato and Melrose pepper seeds.
   
   
   
8. Keep a realistic mindset. If you can. Never forget the space you have indoors during those last weeks, when the plants are outgrowing their pots but it is too cold to plant them. When leaving them outside all day isn’t yet an option. Do you have a greenhouse indoors or outdoors (both)? Do you have adequate light and space for the number of larger plants you will have in late April, early May (debatable)? Do you have a coldframe (no)? Do you have someone who has extra space to love on your plants til they go in-ground (yes)?
   
   
   
9. Check your inventory. Stakes, fertilizers et al. I have a spreadsheet I use to track all my seeds, plus notes, but still lost track of how many tomato plants I will have this year. I thought I was up to 45. NOPE, FIFTY-FIVE. For 2023? I have 77 varieties planned. However, I am testing a new variety for a garden friend of mine, likely putting me around 100 plants this season. Where will they all go? Stay tuned!
   
   
   
10. Are you tag rich? Usually I cut my own tags from a large sheet of plastic. Not this year; I purchased tags. I have some tags I need to still wash off from last year, and marker the rest. 2022 was the first year I had an opportunity to test out the specialty garden markers, advertised not to fade to nothing once exposed to the elements. Mission accomplished and well done. I washed off the tags from the 2022 season over this past winter and most did not require the text to be re-written. Just washed off the dirt and reused the tags. It may be a good time to invest in some sturdier plastic tags a “garden” marker.
    
    

Flowers We are Growing in 2023 – South Dakota Garden

The End.