To all the lovely people,

Greetings - growing well right now and for the past 3 months is Chilacayote, kale, garlic, beets, chard and since February potatoes. In the seed bed and kitchen garden we have onions, peas, lettuce and cabbage. I hope all of your gardens are doing well.

It looks like and early spring but the soil is not warm. This will be another year of saving water for me so compost and mulch will will be of great benefit.

Paul

March To-Do List For Zone 9

• Feed roses with an organic blend of cottonseed meal, alfalfa meal, and composted manure.
• Plant cool-loving vegetables, such as cabbage, broccoli, spinach, radishes, Asian greens, lettuce, and parsley. It may be too late to plant peas, however, if temperatures usually turn hot in your area by April or May.
• Harden-off tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants by moving them outside, beneath a plastic cover or inside a cold frame. Plant them in the garden after the last possible frost.
• Prune away frost-damaged areas on citrus.

March To-Do List For Zone 10

• Plant okra, sweet potatoes, mustard, collards, cucumbers, and melons.
• Plant flowers that will tolerate heat: petunias, zinnias, cockscomb (Celosia cristata), and caladium (Caladium ? hortulanum).
• Start papaya (Carica papaya), chayote (Sechium edule), roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa), and jelly melon (Cucumis metuliferus).
• If your holiday poinsettia is leggy, cut it back and plant it outdoors in a spot that doesn't receive artificial light at night.
• Prune tabebuias (Tabebuia spp.) as soon as blooming stops.
• At month's end, use a micronutrient spray to fertilize everything.

Dig compost into the soil near new plants and around the dripline of established trees and shrubs.