The peepers are peeping and the forsythias are blooming. It's time to sow radishes, lettuce and peas in the garden. In one small bed we've sown French Breakfast Radishes, Parsley Peas, Salad Bowl Lettuce, Fijne Krul Chervil, Mibuna and Arugula, plus two truly fantastic F1 hybrid varieties of Japanese white turnips: Hakurei and Oasis. White Egg and Tokyo Market are good open-pollinated alternatives, but they do not germinate so readily in cold spring soils. Find certified organic F1 hybrid turnip seeds at the Natural Gardening Company.
Seedlings of Jaune du Poitou leeks, Red Wethersfield and New York Early onions are hardening off and their beds are being amended. We've got starts of Cicoria Variegata di Lusia, Red Acre Cabbage, and Rosencrantz Lettuce just about ready to set out. Today we installed a new tall pea fence for Sugar Snap Peas and Golden Snow Peas, which will both grow to 6'.
Indoors, we're sowing the last of the tomato seeds, as well as several varieties of marigolds and basil, including our beloved Lime Basil, Tangerine and Lemon Gem Marigolds, and brand new Opalescent Basil from Frank Morton. Less conspicuously, Huacatay, Yauhtli, Ram Tulsi and Krishna Tulsi also qualify as marigolds and basils and are likewise being sown indoors this week.
Though they may be sown directly into the garden closer to the date of the last spring frost, we prefer to start big brassicas indoors now. Spigariello Liscio, Jagallo Nero, Purple Peacock Broccoli and Bear Necessities Kale may be sown indoors and transplanted to the garden in May. Space generously and harvest individual leaves throughout the spring and summer. In autumn the latter two will develop spectacular color and persist well into early winter.
Also this week, we finally managed to transplant a dozen Champagne Rhubarb seedlings that we didn't get to last year due to neurotic indecision over where to put them. Seed grown rhubarb is tough stuff and will easily overwinter outdoors, even in a small pot. Because mature rhubarb plants are so large and long-lived, it's important to put some thought into where they should be planted. It’s never too late or too early to start rhubarb from seed.
Now is the time to begin hardening off any well-rooted perennials started indoors in February. An unexpectedly fruitful germination test of old seeds left us with dozens of Valerian officinalis plants that will need to be planted outdoors soon. Many hardy perennials prefer to be transplanted in the cool of early spring, when drought and heat stress is less of a concern. They will require far less attention from us if transplanted over the next couple weeks than if they were transplanted in late May or June.
If, like us, you neglected to plant all of your seed garlic or shallots last fall but managed to keep them cool and dry through the winter, they should absolutely be planted into the garden NOW. Spring-planted garlic is a thing! Try it! It's not ideal, but it's better than no garlic!
Finally, if you haven't sown your poppy seeds outdoors, it's not too late. Poppies prefer to germinate in cool moist soils. We're sowing Kelmscott Giants, Amazing Grey, Sir Cedric Morris and Black Peony Poppies among the spring-flowering bulbs and in the cutting garden. Be sure to thin seedlings very soon after they germinate for best performance.