Spring is many gardeners favourite time of the year. The endless possibilities of what the new growing season will bring is an exciting prospect. To get you started in the right direction, we’ve come up with 5 vegetable that you can direct sow this spring into your garden.
Our first selection is one that not only can you plant as soon as the ground is workable. It will also be one of the first items you are able to harvest from your spring garden.
1. Radishes
A popular and easy-to-grow vegetable that can be grown from seed to harvest in as little as 3-4 weeks is Radishes.
They are extremely cold hardy and as such they are the first thing we plant outside in our garden beds and they are the first thing we are able to harvest every year. We plant radishes up to 6 weeks before our last frost date.
Due to the radishes long taproot it is not recommended for transplanting so direct sowing is the way to go.
These small, flavorful root vegetables are a great addition to salads, sandwiches, and even as a snack on their own. We like to dice them up and add them to our eggs and hash browns for a fresh crunch.
Radishes are also very easy to save seeds from so you don’t need to buy more seeds. Once you find a variety you enjoy you can keep growing the same thing every year.
2. Lettuce
Lettuce is another cold hardy vegetable to plant early in your garden. Unlike radishes, lettuce is able to be started indoors and transplanted into your garden.
Planting directly outdoors in our location (zone 5b), plant in mid to late March. Transplanting, sow indoors 3-4 weeks earlier but they will be more susceptible to the outside weather.
Direct sowing lettuce lets the seedlings get acclimated to the cold weather that can still be persistence in March and be more likely to survive a freeze.
Lettuce is a great addition to your spring garden as it lets you use everything else your growing in a fresh salad.
3. Potatoes
Potatoes are a great crop to start in March. As soon as the ground is workable you can direct sow your potatoes. They will grow up through the soil and all the “important” parts are underneath protected from the elements.
Even if your potatoes start to grow and a large freeze comes through and the potato greens die. The potato will send up new shoots like it never even happened.
The only thing you have to be concerned about when planting potatoes early is to make sure you plant them deep enough. If they are only planted an inch under the soil surface there is a chance the potato itself could get damaged from a freeze and not recover.
Potatoes are a fairy common item in home gardens because there is nothing better than the taste of a homegrown potato.
4. Carrots
Carrots, like radishes, are a root vegetable that does extremely well in the cold weather. The main part of the carrot grows underground and the leafy greens are very durable in freezing temperatures.
Being a root crop the only option for carrots is to direct sow. Transplanting is not an option. Carrots can be sown in mid March in our area, as soon as the soil is workable.
Starting carrots early is a great way to have them all year long. Once the first round of carrots are ready for harvest, you are able to plant a second batch of carrots for the late summer/fall.
Carrots are cold hardy, but they also do well in the summer heat. An idea for carrots is to succession plant them every 2 weeks until late summer.
5. Peas
Peas are almost a necessity to start in March. Peas take a little while to get established and to start producing. They also do not like the summer heat at all.
As soon as the soil is workable direct sow peas in the garden to give them the longest growing period possible.
Peas have very fragile root systems so they aren’t the best for transplanting. Direct sowing is definitely the way to go with peas.
Our favourite thing about having peas in our spring garden is they are the perfect snack when you are doing your garden chores. You can snap off a few peas whenever you feel peckish and it’ll tide you over for a bit. It’s also our toddler’s favourite garden snack as well.
I hope you enjoyed this blog post. If you did make sure you check out the other growing guides, seed saving guides and our recipes. We are growing our website with more articles all the time, and we invite you to grow with us. If you have any questions about direct sowing in spring or would like to share some of your knowledge with us please leave a comment below.
