Plant Some Greens!

I don't do much in my garden in March and April here in Western PA, EXCEPT for planting some greens.  Here's my spring game plan:

On the first semi-decent day after the freezing snow and ice are gone I walk around and just take stock, see what damage has been done.  I pick up garbage blown into the beds from the winter winds and start planning for new plants.

       Then I wait...and wait...and sometime early in April I see if I can find some Kale plants and lettuce seeds.  I found Kale and Collard Greens at Lowe's and planted them in one of my raised beds. Last year I had 4 Kale plants and they were unstoppable - they didn't mind the cold or the heat.  They kept producing leaves right through November.  I'm a huge Kale fan and love to cook with it.  This year I'll add Collards to my repertoire and find new recipes for these super foods.

I also sprinkled 2 packets of lettuce seeds, Black Seeded Simpson and Mesclun Mix, all around the edge of my raised bed garden where we will put tomatoes and basil in the summer.  The lettuce loves the cold weather and thrives even when the temperatures go near freezing.  Last year I loved going out to the garden from May into July with my scissors and a bowl to fill up with beautiful fresh greens for that evening's salad.  I'll replant sometime in August for fall salad greens.

If you look very closely here you can see some lettuce sprouts after only one week in the ground!  Spring is here!!! Yippie!