Hello

I;m on the southern coast of Maine and I have already direct seeded outside spinach, lettuce, peas, radishes,parsips, and shallots. My spinach and lettuce is already up. And I will continue to seed directly those vegetables every two weeks until June so that I have a steady supply of them. They are cool weather crops. Next week I will start my potatoes. Of course, I am already harvesting my chives wich are full of good minerals. Other nature's way of giving us a head start on something green before the first spring crop comes in. My egptain onions come up even before the chives are ready for harvest. so that is to good things to have in your garden. Plus once planted they come back year after year and require no work.

In early May I will set out seedlings, small plants, that I grew from seeds inside, under lights, or some I get at a nursery: cabbage, broccoli,cauliflower and I will also at te same time direct seed.
carrots. swiss chard, and kale. I will continue to direct seed the carrots and swiis chard every two weeks through mid July so I have a nice on going supply.

The last frost date for Maine is usually considered to be memorial weekend. Some people claim you can start planting warm weather crops after the full moon in May. Many people will plant mid may while watching carefully for frost alerts and cover up their crops with sheets or some sort of covering if one is predicted.

Some people cover their crops with cut out milk bottles over individual plants to keep them warm during a potential frost.

Usually sunflowers, pumpkins, winter and summer sqaushes, eggplants, green bell peppers, watermellon, corn and tomatoes are not planted until early June, they need warm soil, as well as warm weather to thrive.

raised beds do warm up faster then the ground and you can put clear plastic over your beds for a few weeks to help the soil heat up.

It all can be overwhelming at first. But every year you will learn and master something new. What a great project for the kids and you. I wish you a bountiful harvest.

READ as much as you can. You will slowly start to soak in all the information and learn to apply it to your garden!

Remember if you don't feed your soil, if your soil is NOT feed the nutrients it needs, your crops will not thrive. Good soil is the foundation for a bountiful harvest. So make sure you give your soil what it needs so your plants can grow .

Thanks!!!! what awesome information. i was ready to give
up on onions because they are so long to wait for. now I
know better! i love the thought of things that come back every year!! I need an idiot proof gardening plan. my kids are almost too excited to wait.