Growing Spring Vegetables

Seasonal delight in the garden

Once upon a time, in the not so distant past, people preserved as much food as possible for the winter. That meant canning, drying, and pickling whatever they could harvest from their gardens. By the darkest part of the winter, fresh spring vegetables were a distant memory. Little wonder they looked forward to planting the early spring garden with its little green peas, small new potatoes, leeks, and lettuces.

Now we pick up our peas in the freezer section of the market year around, but nothing matches the delectable sweetness of freshly shelled peas and new potatoes boiled then tossed with just a bit of butter fresh from the garden.

The following provides an introduction for how to grow early spring vegetables and a few herbs.

Vegetable	Growing conditions	Good Companions	Watch for...
Cabbage	Start seeds indoors 4–6 weeks before last frost. Plant seedlings outdoors about 12 inches apart in a sunny location. Water heavily through head formation, then moderate. Cabbage is a heavy feeder, so plant in beds where a cover crop has been dug in to provide green manure to fix nitrogen. Wood ash provides potassium. Mulch well to protect the fragile root ball. Harvest when head is large enough to use.	Good: Lettuce, spinach, potatoes Bad: Strawberries	Cabbage cutworms and moths.
Celery	Start seeds indoors 10 weeks before last frost. Transplant outdoors when soil temperature is above 55 degrees. Celery likes compost. Use lots. Heavy, even watering. Full sun. Take stalks from outsides of plants whenever.	Good: Plays well with almost everyone. Bad: Carrot, parsley	planting where lettuce and cabbage have been. Celery doesn't like it.
Chervil	Sow seed outdoors after danger of frost is past.
Dill	Sow outdoors as soon as soil can be worked. Harvest baby dill leaves as soon as they are a usable size.	Good: Cabbage Bad: Carrot	Susceptible to white flies.
Greens & Lettuce	Sow indoors in trays to get started, then outdoors as soon as soil can be worked for fresh salad greens all season. Light to moderate watering. Full sun to partial shade. Lettuces lend themselves to succession planting, so reseed every week to ten days for continuous crop Harvest by gathering outer leaves, cutting an inch above the soil to regrow, or take the whole plant.	Good: Other greens Bad: Depends on variety	Overwatering
Parsley	Start indoors, then transplant in early spring. Light water Full sun to partial shade Harvest from the outside leaves in as soon as the plant is a usable size.	Good: Tomatoes, corn, peppers Bad: None	not planting enough. Parsley is versatile and remains productive throughout the winter in warmer climates and can overwinter inside.
Leeks	Start indoors four weeks before last frost. Transplant to fertile, well drained and composted beds. Full sun Moderate water Harvest late spring and early summer	Good: Celery, onion, tomatoes, parsley Bad: Peas
Peas	Prepare a trellis Direct sow as soon as soil can be worked; space about 1 inch apart on either side of the trellis Moderate water until blossoms develop, then light. Full sun Harvest according to type of pea	Good: Celery, parsley, early potatoes Bad: Onions, late potatoes	letting peas over develop. They get stringy and starchy.
Potatoes	Plant early, about a month before the last frost Prepare by cutting seed potatoes into chunks with two eyes. Let dry for a day or two, then treat with sulfur before planting. Heavy feeder Moderate water Full sun Mulch well Harvest small, new potatoes a few months after planting.	Good: Cabbage family, marigolds, peas Bad: Tomatoes, cucumbers	space. Potatoes take a lot of room. Make sure their roots are kept well covered.
Radishes	Direct sow in early spring Water evenly and moderately Interplant with lettuces Harvest when young; don't let them go too long.	Good: Lettuce, carrots, spinach Bad: Fennel	overaging. Check out a new variety; there are dozens to choose from.
Scallions	Start indoors two months before last frost, then transplant after danger of frost is past Full sun if possible Medium, even water Harvest when large enough to be used.	Good: Cabbage, carrots, lettuce, spinach Bad: Peas, beans, asparagus
Spinach	Start indoors a month before the last frost. Transplant as soon as soil can be worked. It's frost tolerant. Direct sow in early spring. Likes well composted soils Light, even water Full sun Moderate feeder Harvest as soon as leaves are a usable size (see lettuce)	Good: Cabbage, celery, lettuce, peas Bad: Potatoes	bolting. As the season warms, spinach is inclined to bolt. To extend the season, look for a slow bolting variety.

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Growing Spring Vegetables

Seasonal delight in the garden

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