“In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt.” – Margaret Atwood
Oh my goodness, it’s already March 9th and I haven’t welcomed March yet! Please forgive me, as I have been working like crazy to get my garden structures together so I can start focusing more on the production of the garden and content to share! Then, of course, the lovely Monarchs decided to make another appearance. I just had to help them along. That turned out quite well and 30 gorgeous Monarchs were raised, released, and became part of our little ecosystem.
For March, I will be planting some seedlings but not quite as much as in the past two months. This is due in part to having so many seedlings becoming transplants. Also, I have purchased numerous transplants to regain some of the time I lost in getting things started. However, the seeds I am planting are located below. As a reminder, you can go here to learn what you can grow for your zone.
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What I am planting in March:
*All the transplants from February that are ready to go out * Baby’s Breath *Borage *Dahlias (hopefully-still haven’t found it)*Ginger *Hairy Balls Milkweed *Heavy Hitter Okra *Potatoes (wrong time to do it so this is experimental) *Sweet Potatoes *Turmeric
Another addition to the garden is Gulf Fritillary Caterpillars that have all but taken over my one and only passionflower vine. There are several there so we will see what happens. I will not take them in and raise them, however, since I only have one plant. Hopefully, there is enough there for them. I may be visiting some of my local nurseries to see if I can get more.
They definitely eat quite a bit differently than Monarchs. Monarchs quickly devour every cell of the milkweed, including the stems! The fritillaries, on the other hand, do not eat fast at all and seem to only make selective chew holes in each leaf, leaving most of the leaf intact. It is very interesting to note the differences.
I am making the decision in March to possibly sell what’s left of the mealworms. I say what’s left because nearly all of them have morphed into darkling beetles, which I will also be selling. Really the rest are in the pupa stage of the beetles at this point. I am very glad that I got them so I could go through the process (post upcoming) and share it with others who are interested. However, they just take too much time for me at this time.
I thought I might be getting chickens, so they would be beyond awesome for that. I am just not where I can do that now, due to ongoing fencing issues. I am so glad that I did it though because if and when I do get chickens I want to get them again and repeat the process. It was really cool. I think it will be fantastic then. I did collect what frass I could from them and it is happily enriching my garden. It just became too much of an extra thing to do right now. I prefer to focus more on all the other stuff for now. Like I said, however, I’m super glad I did it and hope that what I share can be of benefit to others.
The worms, on the other hand, are doing spectacularly well! So well, in fact, that I have to divide them up and make extra bins. Additionally, I am giving some to a friend who is passionate about gardening so they can start their own vermicomposting set-up. This makes me so happy to share it on and offline. I will be doing an updated post on the worms, so stay tuned for that. For now, this is where I got the worms from.
The primary focus for March is getting the fence situation resolved, and getting the remainder of the beds built, in place, and filled. Then all of what is to be in the garden out there. I would have liked to have it all set before the end of last month but for sure it will be mostly set in March. Since I am scaling back on some other things it should be easier to accomplish.
Again, I want to thank you so much for joining me here on my journey! Please feel free to comment here, tell me what you are growing, and let me know about some successes in your garden, garden preparations, or struggles. I want to know!
Happy Gardening,
Jennifer