Their mission is to help others with gardening questions.“Feel free to experiment and try growing things you haven’t grown before,” Michael finished. “I think the crops are sweeter and superior in taste to spring-grown plants.”His parting advice: if you need garden help, call the Extension Office at 349-2575 and ask for referral to a Master Gardener. “But if March is getting away from you faster than you’d like, and you’re simply too busy right now for cool-weather planting, don’t despair: you can plant again in mid-to late summer for a fall harvest.“I actually prefer to grow cool-season crops in the fall,” Michael said. So I plant them lengthwise, after stripping off all but their very top leaves. Only after about two weeks of this will they be ready to transplant in the garden.“I like having leggy tomato seedlings,” Michael explained, “because they have the capacity to sprout roots all along their stem. Place the seedlings in a protected place outdoors (a cold frame is ideal) where they can be exposed to increasing quantities of light and air movement. It will allow you to gently lift the baby plant without ripping through young roots.Hardening-off - adjusting a seedling to outdoor conditions - is critical to success with warm-weather crops. A perfect tool for this is a plastic fork missing one or two center tines. Either lower the plants as they grow, or raise the lights as the plants increase in height.” When the seedlings have their first set of true leaves (in addition to the cotyledons they germinate with), it’s time to prick them off into larger pots. The light needs to be kept just above the growing tips. You can do this inexpensively by using a shop light with two fluorescent bulbs, one of them warm-spectrum and the other cool-spectrum, so you have mixed light. A bright window can work for seedlings, but grow lights are preferable. For instance, parsnip seed generally lasts only one year, while tomato seeds can be viable for 10 years.So in addition to planting all cool-weather crops outside right now, gardeners also need to start tomato and pepper seeds indoors in planting cells or peat pots.“I recommend a soilless mix,” said Michael, “because garden soil can harbor pathogens that can kill young seedlings. And for those thrifty folk who save their own seeds from year to year, a must-have book is Complete Guide to Saving Seeds which lists the seed viability for all garden crops. Mel Bartholomew’s Square Foot Gardening has a useful chart at the back showing when different crops need to be planted in order to mature fully before the fall frost. Folklore aside, Michael recommends two valuable modern books that every gardener should have. That’s how we ended up with gardening folklore that warns us not to plant corn before the leaves on the oak trees have grown at least as large as a squirrel’s ear. The climate is definitely warming.Although cool-weather crops can be planted outside right now, warm-weather crops (peppers, tomatoes, okra, corn and cowpeas) require warm soil to germinate. May 15th is our frost-free date, but the USDA, working from information compiled over the past ten years, has moved Bloomington from Growing Zone 5B to the warmer Zone 6. Michael successfully planted tomatoes outside one warm year on April 1st, but he also recalls snow in May at a Farmers’ Market. If you practice lasagna gardening, you just push aside the mulch on top to plant.” Spring temperatures in Indiana are highly variable. “But there are many methods of no-till gardening. These seeds will soon sprout despite cold rain and chilly temperatures.“One problem with spring gardening is our variable, wet conditions, which can make it impossible to till,” Michael observed. I know someone who scatters lettuce seed on top of the snow and lets the freeze-thaw cycle work the seeds into her garden.” Other cool-weather crops include chard, mustard, turnips, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, kale, collards and arugula. “Right now, you can sow any of the cool-weather crops outside, like lettuce, spinach, things like that. Patrick’s Day.”That news alarmed his reporter, who had not yet readied her garden for spring. A longtime garden educator, he teaches the Certificate in the Organic Management of Orchards and the Master Composter courses.“This is an exciting time because we’ve gotten to the point people can begin to plant cool-season crops outside,” he said. Despite the wavering temperatures and frequent rain, his message is: “It’s time to start the spring garden.”Michael co-founded both the local Master Gardeners Association and the Grow Organic Educator Series (GOES). Local gardening guru Michael Simmons showed up for his interview in a car loaded with spades and hoes, sparing time from his own garden to discuss the growing opportunities of this new season.
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