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January Vegetable Garden
January is the coldest month of the year in the northern hemisphere. This is the month to get seed catalogs and begin planning the spring garden. Beware of false spring days. Check with the weather service or local cooperative extension for your area’s average last frost date–the last expected frost and the start of outdoor […] More
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July Vegetable Garden Things To Do
July is a busy month in the vegetable, herb, and fruit gardens. The summer harvest begins in July. Succession planting of warm-season crops continues and planting of cool-season crops for fall harvest can begin this month as well. Warm-weather crops coming to harvest this month must be picked at the peak of ripeness–just ripe, tender […] More
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October Vegetable Garden
Early October is the right time to begin thinking about the coming frost and cold weather. How will you extend the season if your summer crops are not yet ready for harvest? Many warm-weather crops and all cool-weather crops can withstand the first or second or even third frost with a little protection. Extending the […] More
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November Vegetable Garden
November is a busy month in the kitchen garden. Many gardeners would say November is the most important month–now is the time to prepare the soil for next spring and afterward put the garden to bed for the winter. (Of course, winter vegetable gardening can be very rewarding. So if you are continuing the fresh […] More
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May Vegetable Garden Things To Do
May is the month to get your summer vegetable garden growing in earnest. Warm-season crops can be sown in the garden or transplants set out. The soil in most vegetable gardens in the Northern Hemisphere should now be warm enough for summer crops. If you live where nights can get chilly, keep row covers at […] More
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May Vegetable Garden Zone-by-Zone
May is the month to get your summer vegetable garden planted and growing. Almost all warm-season crops can either be sown or transplanted into the garden by mid-May. If you live in a short growing season region (Zones 3 to 6) keep crop-protecting devices such as row covers and plastic hoop tunnels and row covers […] More
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Spring Outdoor Seed-Sowing Schedule
Vegetable seeds can be sown outdoors directly in the garden as soon as the soil is workable in spring. Here’s a test for workable soil: squeeze a handful of soil in the palm of your hand; when you open your hand if the soil remains a cold, wet clump, it is not workable. You should […] More
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April Vegetable Garden
April is a month of quick transition in the vegetable garden. Frost and cold will persist in northern gardens. Spring will arrive in most southern and coastal gardens. When the crocus and narcissus bloom, the soil is growing warm enough to begin working in the vegetable garden. A sure sign that winter in your area […] More
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April Vegetable Garden Zone-by-Zone
April is a time of transition in the vegetable garden. Weather extremes from snow flurries to hot weather can occur in the Northern Hemisphere. In cold-winter regions, spring weather may be weeks away. In warm-winter regions, the last frost may already have passed. April is named for Aprilis, the Latin word meaning to open. This […] More
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in Almanac, Seed Starting
April Seed Starting Veggies Zone-by-Zone
Here are seed starting tips–both indoors and outdoors–and the schedule for April zone-by-zone. If you are unfamiliar with the USDA zone where you live, look at the minimum annual temperature guideline following each zone. Soil and Seed Starting Mix Getting seed started indoors is essentially the same as sowing seed outdoors directly in the garden. […] More
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in Almanac
Vegetable Garden Tips for March
Welcome to March in the vegetable garden! March brings the end of winter and the beginning of spring. Spring in the Northern Hemisphere arrives on March 19 this year. “It was one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold: when it is summer in the light, and winter […] More
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March Vegetable Garden Zone-by-Zone
March is a month of great transition in the vegetable garden. Spring in the northern hemisphere will arrive on March 20. In the warmest regions–United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Plant Hardiness Zones 9 through 11–warming temperatures have arrived. Planting can go forward this month. In USDA Zones 7 and 8, preparation for spring planting […] More
Stephen Albert
