March is the month when things really start to move in the growing season. In fact the start of the year used to be Lady Day, The Feast of the Annunciation, 25th March until 1752 in Britain when we adopted the Gregorian calendar and started our year on the 1st January. From an agricultural viewpoint, it would have made sense to have stuck with the old system, starting the year on the spring equinox (in 2019 being 20th March), in link with the seasons.
Some jobs to get you started are…
- Plant strawberries, raspberries, and parsnip seeds.
- Start successional sowing of chard, beetroot and spinach.
- If you’ve sown early lettuce, now is the time to thin it out.
- If you’ve any leeks left in the ground from last year, harvest them so you can dig over the land for new planting. If it’s warm enough, sow this year’s leeks in pots.
- Plant sunflower seeds in pots in a greenhouse or coldframe.
- Cut back autumn raspberries to the ground.
- Sow cauliflower, sprouts, and summer cabbage for summer transplanting.
- Dig all of your vacant vegetable beds over ready for spring planting.
