The snow has melted and that first warm breeze has rushed through the air. It’s finally March. It’s time to start putting shovel to soil and make those long awaited garden dreams happen.
From spending his life with his hands in the dirt, John Coykendall harbors a wealth of knowledge that he’s itching to share with FLOWER readers. This year, he leads readers through a seasonal guidebook to make the most out of the year whether the garden’s in full bloom or the thermostat’s reading under freezing. In this chapter John guides the readers through tips for getting the most of the spring season. His top tip— just get started!
Photo courtesy of Blackberry Farm
"Spring gardens bring an overall excitement and wonder of a new season. I’m always amazed when I check the seedling trays and see those first little crooks pop up. Every year it’s like the first year — this never gets old." —John Coykendall, Master Gardener at Blackberry Farm
A spring vegetable garden might begin in a hoop house or in seed trays on a kitchen windowsill. Some seeds may be sown directly into the soil, or seedlings can be purchased from a local garden store for transplanting. The most important part of the spring garden is simply to begin one.
Photo courtesy of Blackberry Farm
Saved popsicle sticks make excellent garden markers.
Every plant in the garden needs:
Water
Consistent watering is crucial for best development and flavor. Inconsistent watering can make for mealy texture and easily cracked skins.
Food/Fertilizer
The soil is crucial. It’s very important to use good compost material. We work a lot of well-rotted compost into the soil. For fertilizing, most tomato fertilizers work well when feeding fruits, herbs, and vegetables.
Weeding
When seedlings begin to appear, use a well-sharpened hoe to scrape the surface of the soil and keep weed seedlings shaved off. It’s also important to pull weeds that are growing close to established plants. Oftentimes, pulling by hand is best so as to not disturb the roots.
Photo courtesy of Blackberry Farm
Not only do chickens produce fresh eggs, but they can help with weeding and pest control around the garden.
Photo courtesy of Storey
One of John’s favorite books about companion planting is Carrots Love Tomatoes by Louise Riotte (Hatchette Book Group). “It gives tried-and-true facts,” he says.
Companion Planting
One of the best ways to learn about gardening is to use tried-and- true ideas from the past. Companion planting is a surefire way to start a strong garden. Through hundreds of years of study and growing, gardeners have determined that positioning particular plants with one another can increase the health and overall production of each plant.
Companion planting creates nutrient-dense fruits and vegetables, aids in attracting beneficial insects and repelling pests, helps increase growth, and improves taste. It also teaches the benefits of location by using shorter ground-cover plants to provide weed protection and planting taller companions to shade these lower plants.
Order a copy of Louise Riotte’s Carrots Love Tomatoes.
“None of this is original from me — I’ve gotten it all from a bunch of old-timers. I’ve learned from the greatest teachers — still do! The best teacher I’ve got right now is 105 years old from Washington Parish, Louisiana.”
—John Coykendall, Master Gardener of Blackberry Farm
Photo courtesy of Blackberry Farm
Cabbage prefers cool weather but lots of sunshine.
Tips for Growing Cabbage
Rotating cabbage crops each year, which means changing location from one space to another and replacing with a bed at rest or another plant, is a must to fend off many soilborne diseases. To keep heads from splitting, avoid late-season fertilization and maintain consistent watering, or use a shovel on one side to prune roots, preventing the plant from taking up too much water.
Cabbage Companions: Beans, celery, garlic
Avoid: Strawberries—keep them one or two rows away.
John’s Favorite Cabbage Varieties: Early Flat Dutch. Introduced sometime between 1855 and 1875, this heirloom is heat-resistant and is the best variety for storage.
Photo courtesy of Blackberry Farm
Most beans can't survive a frost, so it's important to plant them when a chance of freezing is definitively gone.
Tips for Growing Beans
Pole beans love climbing tall plants like corn and sunflowers. One of the first companion plantings ever recorded was the combination of corn, beans, and squash. Native Americans named this trio the Three Sisters.
Bean Garden Companions: Beets, corn, eggplant, squash
Avoid: Fennel, garlic, onions
John’s Favorite Bean Varieties: Rev. Taylor lima beans—heirloom from Alabama in the 1800s. Also speckled runner beans with loads of beautiful colors. They grow well in a variety of zones.
Tips for Growing Peas
Peas may be grown in partial shade, but they will not be as productive or as sweet without full sun. Water them gently and deeply.
Companions for Pea Planting: Beans, carrots, corn, chives, cucumbers, grapes, radishes, lettuce, spinach, turnips
Avoid: Asparagus, garlic, onions
John’s Favorite Pea Varieties: Thomas Laxton peas—named for a pioneering English pea breeder. They first started appearing in 1898 and have stuck because of their reliability, consistency, and sweetness. You need a trellis for very tall vines.
Photo courtesy of Blackberry Farm
The richer the color of the lettuce, the more nutrient dense its leaves.
Tips for Growing Lettuce
Far superior to anything purchased in a store, different types of lettuces can make for an easy garden salad in your backyard. Sow seeds directly into the soil as soon as the ground can be worked. Select placement wisely—as the days become warmer, lettuces like to have some afternoon shade.
Lettuce Companions: Beets, carrots, cucumbers, garlic, peas, radishes, tomatoes. Tomatoes are great because they provide shade to the lettuce. Likewise, the lettuce helps to suppress weeds beneath the tomato plants.
Avoid: Broccoli, cabbage, kale—they compete for nutrients in the soil.
John’s Favorite Lettuce Varieties: Buttercrunch, developed in the 1950s by gardener George Raleigh of Cornell University. It’s prized for its sweet taste, buttery texture, and bolt resistance.
Photo courtesy of Blackberry Farm
Tomatoes of all shapes and colors love to soak up the sun, resulting in a full and vibrant flavor.
Tips for Growing Tomatoes
Select the sunniest spot available. Water early in the day, and water deeply—only 1 to 2 times a week. Keep moisture consistent to prevent skin splitting. Keep foliage as dry as possible while watering. Leave some space between plants for proper airflow. This helps reduce the threat of disease.
Companion Plants for Tomatoes: Asparagus, carrots, celery, garlic, onion
Avoid: Lettuce, peas
John’s Favorites Tomato Varieties: Gulf State, Cherokee Purple, and Pineapple varieties are at the top of the list. Also cherry tomatoes because they develop much earlier than the larger varieties.
Photo courtesy of Blackberry Farm
Radishes need sufficient space and cooler temps in order to grow properly.
Tips for Growing Radishes
Plant radishes in the cool seasons of spring and autumn—they will be ready to harvest in just weeks! Sow the seeds anywhere there is an empty space in the garden. Harvest promptly before they become too mature and spicy.
Companion Plants for Radishes: Chervil, lettuce, peas
Avoid: Broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, potatoes
John’s Favorite Radish Varieties: Cherry Bell—an heirloom variety from Holland that is ready in 3-4 weeks. Also Sparkler with its hint of sweetness—perfect for any salad. Both varieties are known for their quick growth.
Photo courtesy of Blackberry Farm
Though often thought of as a fall vegetable, carrots can also grow in the spring.
Tips for Growing Carrots
Avoid high-nitrogen fertilizers that may cause carrot roots to fork or become hairy. Carrots are sown directly in a bedded-up row. (A bedded-up row is raised higher than the surrounding soil level by mixing in organic materials such as compost and mulch.)
Companion Plants for Carrots: Leeks, lettuce, onions, peas, radishes. Two root crops that go together nicely with no competition in the soil are carrots and radishes. They mature at different rates; great for intercroppimg and succession planting.
Avoid: Asparagus, cabbage, celery, fennel, strawberries
John’s Favorite Carrot Varieties: Danvers Half Long—an American heirloom variety developed in the 1870s in Danvers, Massachusetts. With its bright orange color and sweet flavor, this variety does well even in heavy clay and shallow soils.
Photo courtesy of Blackberry Farm
The many rich colors of beets signal their extraordinary health benefits.
Tips for Growing Beets
Don’t plant where Swiss chard or spinach has recently grown to avoid soilborne diseases and pests. For more uniform sizing, be sure to thin out seedlings once they reach 2 inches tall, and space plants 4 to 6 inches apart for optimal root development.
Companion Plants for Beets: Broccoli, lettuce, onions, radishes, shelly beans, Swiss chard
Avoid: Broccoli, chili peppers, eggplant, potatoes, tomatoes
John’s Favorite Beet Varieties: Detroit Dark Red. These beets were introduced in 1892 by the D.M. Ferry Seed Company. These have been hailed as the most perfectly shaped beets with the smoothest roots.
Photo courtesy of Blackberry Farm
Onions are hardy enough to weather a spring frost.
Tips for Growing Onions
When onions begin growing, pull the soil away from the base of the plant—the onions need space to yield the largest produce.
Companion Plants for Onions: Beets, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, strawberries, Swiss chard, tomatoes
Avoid: Asparagus, beans, peas
John’s Favorite Onion Varieties: Texas Sweet onions. The official vegetable for the state of Texas, these onions are known for their sweetness and ability to inhibit tears when slicing.
Photo courtesy of Blackberry Farm
Sheep love to graze. Their grazing habits can be useful in the garden to help weeding.
Remember that cool-season crops; they do not like hot weather. Plant these in early to mid-spring for an early summer crop, and mid- to late summer for a fall harvest.
Contact your local agricultural extension agents for information concerning your regional planting dates.
Produced by Amanda Smith Fowler | By John Coykendall | Photgraphy courtesy of Blackberry Farm
