Time to start planting early veggies
Jenny Harwood, gardening associate at Quincy Hardware and Lumber, stands in the store’s gardening section. Harwood said now is the time to start planting vegetables that can handle slightly cooler temperatures. These include things like peas, lettuce and onions.
Joel Martin/Columbia Basin Herald
Jenny Harwood, gardening associate at Quincy Hardware and Lumber, poses with a rack of plant starts, including the ones best suited to this time of year. Choosing the right plants and spacing seedlings out properly can help improve their yield.
Jenny Harwood, of Quincy Hardware and Lumber, shows starts of onions and cabbage. This is the time to start putting those and other early edibles in the ground.
QUINCY — Spring has finally arrived in earnest, and that means it’s time to start getting some vegetables in the ground, but choosing the right ones and planting them according to their respective needs is important. Right now is the time for cold vegetables, according to local gardening professionals.
The cold vegetables are the ones to plant now, said Jenny Harwood, a gardening associate at Quincy Hardware and Lumber. Peas, lettuce and Brussels sprouts, in particular, are ready to plant, she said.
So are spinach, onions, broccoli and cabbage, according to a column by WSU Grant-Adams Master Gardener Diane Escure.
These plants are tough in the face of the unpredictable weather the Basin frequently sees in spring, Harwood said.
“The peas and lettuces are supposed to be put in while it’s cold, so they will handle it,” she said. “Just follow the instructions on your (seed) packet. They pretty much come up on their own. I actually don’t even water, though you could obviously water, and they’re already coming up.”
Spacing when planting seeds is important to ensure new seedlings will sprout without being overcrowded.
Peas should be planted 2-3 inches apart, according to the Washington State Extension publication “Home Vegetable Gardening in Washington.” Plant head lettuce 12-14 inches apart and leaf lettuce 2-4 inches. Brussels sprouts should go 18-24 inches apart, spinach 2-4 inches, broccoli 12-18 inches and cabbage 12-24 inches. Row spacing can vary from 12 to 24 inches apart.
It’s important to make sure your garden has lots of sun exposure, according to the WSU Extension. Make sure your veggies get at least six hours of direct sunlight a day, in fertile, well-drained soil will help them grow and produce a decent crop of fresh food.
Right now it’s too early to plant warm-weather crops like tomatoes and peppers in the open, but you can cover them, Harwood said. Plastic jugs are a good way to do that. Or some gardeners just put them in cages and throw a towel over them to protect them from cooler evening weather.
“Anything to keep that frost from landing on them,” she said.
Joel Martin can be reached via email at jmartin@columbiabasinherald.com.
