Time to Start Gardening!

Dear Project Grow Gardeners, 

 The gardens were tilled almost two weeks ago and it is time to get started!  I was at West Park Tuesday and already there is a stubble of grass and weeds on plots that have not been started.

I inspected hundreds of plots last year and could usually tell which gardeners were going to have problems by June 1st. Please learn from others mistakes instead of your own!

• Mulch.  Every single garden that had problems last year did not mulch.  If you have not already, purchase some straw for the garden or talk to your site coordinator about going in with others to get marsh hay from Kevin Ernst.  He will deliver orders of 10 bales or more.  That is too much for one garden but 3-4 bales of marsh hay or straw per full plot is not unreasonable.
• Get started.  Now is the time to plant all hardy plants and seeds including kale, collards, carrots, radishes, peas, lettuce, other greens.  These can all tolerate cold and mild frost. 
• Tender plants should not be planted until at least May 20th. But that is the average last frost, meaning half the time there will still be a frost after May 20th.  The frost free date in this area is June 1st.  Until then you should be prepared to protect tender plants including tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, corn, beans, squash, and melons.  You may get away with planting these sooner, but you may not.  
• Weeds.  Don't fall behind the weeds Experienced gardeners know that tiny 1" weeds will be several feet tall by July.  Yes, more will come up if you rake them out.  But, if you don't clear them now, in a week or two the root systems will be too big to rake them out at all and clearing them at all will be much more work.