It’s almost spring and time to get your garden going. You can start sowing your seeds now indoors for spring vegetables and flowers. Make sure to use good seed-starter mix and give your seeds plenty of sunlight from a southern window or fluorescent lights. Keep your seeds humid in a plastic bag or under a glass jar until they germinate, then gradually allow the humidity to decrease so that fungi don’t attack your seedlings. Chesapeake has a vegetable planting chart online so you will know when to plant and grow any vegetables here in Chesapeake.
Keep in mind that the soil doesn’t warm up naturally enough until May for summer vegetables like tomatoes and squash unless you create a raised bed, use black/clear plastic to solarize your garden or create a Garden Box. It’s also good to get a soil test done six months prior to planting your vegetables so that you can make sure to add the right compost/fertilizers, which will allow the soil to adjust to the proper pH, too. We do have soil test kits in our office at 310 Shea Drive or at any Chesapeake Public Library.
Also, watch for our Rain Barrel Classes that will start monthly from April through October. At these classes, you will be able to learn the whys and hows to build a rain barrel for your garden to save you money and help protect our watershed, too.
Click here to download a PDF of the vegetable planting chart for Chesapeake.
Article submitted by Mike Andruczyk, Horticulture Agent, Chesapeake office of Virginia Cooperative Extension