When Can I Plant My Veggies?
Spring is here! Normally, the team here at Van Wilgen’s would say there’s no better time to get outside and get your hands in the dirt and start planting some veggies! We said “Normally!”
When I started here, I asked Ryan Van Wilgen, “When can I plant veggies?”
He replied, “When you can walk barefoot comfortably across your lawn!”
Well, last week’s snow showers and Arctic-like temperatures didn’t bode well for any tip-toeing across the garden– unless you like a bit of frost-bite! Hopefully this week the temperatures will resume their climb and we can get back out into the garden.
Once minimum temperatures get up above 50 degrees at night (and the socks can finally come off), it should be a green light for planting! Cold weather veggies e.g., broccoli, cabbage, lettuce, etc., are good to plant in early April. Warm weather veggies that include tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, squash, cucumbers, etc. are best to plant after May 15th.
Here are a few rules of thumb:
- Do not plant until the last chance of frost has gone by, usually the last full moon in May.
- Daytime soil temperature needs to be 65 – 70 degrees for warm-weather veggies. There’s an old saying that if you dig a hole and you can’t comfortably leave your hand in there because of the cold then you shouldn’t be planting just yet.
- Early isn’t always better. Your plant doesn’t start growing faster just because you planted it early. It’s just the opposite.
