The month of March is when the gardeners start to squirm. Here in Central Illinois it can be 72 degrees, sunny, buds popping, weeds growing OR it can be 22 degrees, blustery and just down right miserable outside. I finalize my seed order in March, regardless of the weather, after perusing well over 50 catalogs from coast to coast. Seed catalogs and mail deliveries including freshly packed seed can be so exciting to gardeners that we can hardly sit still in our chairs.

The Homestead Seeds receives seed orders year-round via the internet, however  March seems to be our most steady month for cucurbit fanatics planning their orders. This makes sense as most pumpkins, squash, and gourds have no business going in the ground before mid-late May and most should lean toward June so as to not have an orange pumpkin in the middle of August! Gardeners like having their seeds in hand when the weather starts warming up but no rush for you cucurbit growers. To plant too early is almost certainly going to produce a poor crop, if any at all. They like hot and dry which typically means late May to late June, therefore allowing plenty of time to get your orders placed and received in April or May. I love getting our approximately 200 varieties out to the everyday vegetable gardener who anticipates that amazing squash on their kitchen counter eight months from now.

We at The 200 Acres walk the line of gardener, seed producer, seed sender and seed receiver, all in a single day. Our seed saving happened 2-3 months prior, but a lot of the inventory and planning is just now happening on wintry March days. On those warm, springlike March days, we are out pruning, clearing beds, transplanting wood plants and prepping new garden beds. It’s a month of catching up on inside jobs or getting ahead on outside jobs, weather permitting. Either way, its a busy month of planning, gardening and squirming!

~ Mac