Garden Notes: March 2023

Rainfall 

• range of nighttime lows: 26 to 58°F (-3 to 14°C)
• range of daytime highs: 37 to 82°F (3 to 28°C)

March didn’t do the lion-lamb thing this year. February’s late mild temperatures continued into the first week of March, then the cold returned. This last week has been more spring-like and very welcome.

One observation I wanted to notate, was a small isolated pocket of frost on March 11th. I found it at the base of the hugelkultur, on the southwest edge. Mapping the microclimates on one’s property is one of the tools of permaculture. For example, our garden is protected and warmer than other places on the property. But I haven’t been very tuned into the subtleties of microclimate on our place, so this tiny pocket of frost was a curiosity.

Garden Projects

Aisle mulching and soil prep continue in anticipation of spring planting next month. Every year about this time, I tell myself that next fall, I’m going to get all of my garden beds tucked in with a thick mulch of dried leaves. Then fall comes and I make a start. And then it rains and gets cold, and I lose enthusiasm for outdoor projects and don’t finish getting everything mulched. So, when warm days present themselves, the weeds all jump into action and take advantage of the bare soil. Then I have to de-weed them before I can plant. You’d think I’d learn.