March is the month when things really start to move in the growing season, in fact the start of the year used to be The Feast of the Annunciation, 25 th March until 1752 in Britain when we adopted the Gregorian calendar and started our year on the 1 st January.

Harvest

Any leeks left standing should come up now – you can freeze them for use in soups and stews. Parsnips too should come up in early March before they try and re-grow. You may have spinach beet and chards available, the last of the late Brussels sprouts, winter cauliflowers, kale, swedes, salsify and scorzonera. Don’t forget to keep checking the purple sprouting!

General Jobs in the Garden

Have a good tidy up and finish those odd construction jobs because you are going to be busier still later in the year. If you have any horticultural fleece, you can peg that onto the ground a week or so before you plant. The small rise in temperature of the soil can make a big difference Sowing, Planting and Cultivating If the weather permits you can plant your onion and shallot sets. March is usually the right time to establish an asparagus bed if you are starting from crowns. Mid March should let you start planting those early potatoes you’ve had chitting and talking of root crops, you can plant Jerusalem artichoke tubers now.

Things to Sow

Beetroot Broad

Beans Early Peas (but they may do best started in a gutter in the greenhouse then slipped into a trench)

Brussels sprouts – early varieties like Peer Gynt will be ready in September

Kohl Rabi

Leeks

Lettuce

Radish

Parsnips

Spinach Beet

Early Turnips Sow in Heat Windowsill or a propagator in the greenhouse will come into use now to start off your tomatoes, peppers, aubergines and cucumbers.

Under Cloche

Summer cabbages and early cauliflowers, early carrots will get away best under a cloche. If you set your cloche up a week or two beforehand, it will warm up the soil so you will get even better results. Many of the crops you can sow directly will also benefit from cloching, especially as you move northwards or started off in modules in a cool greenhouse or coldframe and then planted out later.

Fruit Planting & Pruning There is still time to finish planting bare rooted fruit trees and bushes, especially raspberries and other cane fruits. Early this month you can still prune apple and pear trees while they are still dormant. It’s also time to prune gooseberries and currants. With currants shorten the sideshoots to just one bud and remove old stems from the centre of the bushes. They’ll benefit from some compost spread around the base as well

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