As most gardeners have marveled, we’re having one of the earliest “spring” seasons this year, with woody plants and herbaceous perennials three to six weeks ahead of “normal.” And then, perhaps inevitably, “normal” spring frost and freeze visited. Being so much further along in their development, plants are quite vulnerable to damage. Home fruit-growers have reason to be concerned: At 28 F, you can expect a 10-percent loss of flowers/young developing fruit. However, at 25 […]

Cool-season crops such as lettuce, potatoes, peas, cauliflower and onions actually prefer the cool, moist conditions of spring. With the extended mild winter, coupled with unseasonably warm conditions just at winter’s end, our cool-season crops may be in fast-forward mode! By March 13, soil temperatures under bare ground have already reached the upper 40s to mid 50s F in northern Indiana and in the 60s in southern Indiana. These temperatures are in the optimum range […]