I'm in Norman too. Barely. My tomatoes and peppers are outgrowing the light shelf. So, I've decided to harden them off and plant. I'm thinking they'll be ready in a week or so. The tomatoes anyway. I may wait an additional week or two for the peppers. That's my plan for now. If something happens with the weather forecast, I might change my mind. I'm actually considering sowing the squash, zucchini, and cucumber seed tomorrow.

Keep us posted.

Same here Hazel, peppers aren't a problem. Looks like the forecast for Wednesday is a bit dicey, so I may wait until next weekend and see what the weather holds. Soil temperatures have been fairly stable in the 60's for the last few days, so I am hopeful :-) Anyway, I like to grow my own seedlings, but they are nothing super special in a heirloom sort of way. If disaster strikes, I could still buy some plants and be ok. Good luck to you and let me know how it turns out. thanks

I've got 23 tomato plants in the ground and hope to add more on Wednesday after we cool down from today's and tomorrow's extra-hot weather. I'm also about to start planting peppers---probably also on Wednesday because tomorrow just will be too hot. I'm a lot further south that y'all---in south-central OK near the Red River and our air temperatures and soil temperatures are perhaps the warmest I've ever seen them in mid-March. I am going full speed ahead on planting as soon as we get past tomorrow's heat. I do have frost blanket weight row covers that would give my plants 10 degrees of freeze protection if Mother Nature decides to throw some late cold weather at us, which seems less and less likely with each day that passes. My average last freeze date is only 8 days away and I almost always have tomato and pepper plants in the ground before it arrives---all in an effort to beat the heat and get good fruit set on tomatoes and sweet peppers before the daytime highs start regularly exceeding 92 degrees. We'll just ignore the fact that it was 93 degrees at my house today because that's an anomaly not expected to be repeated again this week.

Our soil temperatures are warm enough here (well into the 70s during the day and barely dropping into the upper 60s at night lately) that zinnias, peppers and watermelon volunteers are sprouting in my garden, and have been for almost 2 weeks in the case of the zinnias, and about a week in the case of the peppers and watermelons. With soil temperatures that warm, and only one night in the next week below 50 (currently forecast to be 48) degrees, there's no reason for me not to go ahead and plant. We're having record-setting and near record-setting heat in our area, so I fear that if that trend continues, we'll get too hot for tomatoes to set fruit as early as April or May, which last occurred here in 2011. Since that is a distinct possibility, it is worth the risk to me to plant early. I raise my own seedlings and always have extras in case a late freeze wipes out my plants so my actual risk is very low since replacement plants will be setting in the greenhouse just in case.

Everyone has to decide for themselves whether to risk planting early, but I think if ever there was a year in which I'd encourage people to go ahead and plant as early as possible, this is it.

Dawn

It's funny that I started my seed so early this year and it looks like we will be planting early too. I wonder if it was an intuition thing. The wind beat up the tomatoes a bit, but overall they look good. I only gave them less than an hour in full sun and that was in the morning. The rest of the day they stayed in the windy shade.

hahahaha!

Thanks everyone for your comments. Think I am going to try to plant at least half my tomato plants this weekend weather permitting. Peppers are still fairly small so I can keep those under lights for another week or so. I just raise a garden for enjoyment and a few vegetables. These decisions really make you feel for the professional farmers whose livelihood depends on making the right decision. I get so much from reading this forum, can't thank the more experienced gardeners enough for sharing with we newbies. Good luck to all on your planting!

Paula, That is too funny!

Wotanhl, I agree with you. Nothing has made me understand farmers better than being a gardener myself (and I grew up in a family of farmers, though many were no longer farming by the time I came along---having given up the daily farming/ranching struggle for city jobs with more stable incomes).

When we first moved here and I finally had all the space I wanted and needed for a big veggie garden, I planted far too much of everything, but especially tomatoes. My friends started referring to me as a tomato farmer then. I don't think I am a tomato farmer, just a tomato-obsessed gardener, and I've cut way, way back on how many tomatoes I grow because even with a lot of canning, dehydrating and freezing of tomatoes, there's still only so many tomatoes that a family can use in one year. Growing less tomatoes in recent years only frees up space for me to grow too much of other things too. That's how I roll.

Dawn

Understood Dawn. I fear there is no cure however :-)

You're right. There is no cure, and if they come up with a cure, I don't want it. I don't want to be cured! Ha, ha, ha. Being this obsessed is only a problem if you think it is a problem. I don't think it is a problem. For me, this obsession is just normal.

This obsession is my passion and my livelihood. My life doesn't depend on this like my grandparents but I depend on it for a meaningful life and real food

And fun.

Kim, I agree. You know, we could eat store-bought produce (though if I was buying produce, I'd still be more likely to go to the Farmer's Market every weekend and buy local produce) and I could have bouquets of store-bought flowers, but I'd rather have our own. I have spent so much time in the garden for so many years (actually, decades) that I don't know how in the world I'd spend my time if there was no garden.

Dawn

It would be boring. When I was working at the school and had a moment I though long and hard about what I was doing where is my passion what is my next step. And I wondered why go work a job I have no desire for doing something I don't agree with to buy food and pay a few bills. Sometimes I wonder if I will be able to make it and other times I am sure I can lots of people do. No more herbicides drifting and it will be good. This year already looks better.

Boring.......that's how I feel about my yard right now. When we bought this house in late 2015 it was just blah. That's why I just dove in and planted LOTS of flower seeds along with my veggies for the garden. I don't have anything actually in the ground yet.....I will get there. I'm thinking about going ahead and getting the peas in the ground today or tomorrow along with the green beans and some cucumbers. I have 3 dinner plate hibiscus sprouts that I am just head over heels about!!!

I planted bush beans today. I hope they survive, but if they freeze, I will plant cow peas in their place. Put some more of the brassica transplants in that bed, too. I literally threw lettuce seeds in the asparagus bed, along with a couple of Asian greens I don't care for that will be chicken greens. Later I think I will stick a tomato or two in the holes between the asparagus. I'm taking a break and trying to talk myself into going out and planting carrots. And more lettuce. Maybe Korean squash? I have a fistful of seed packets, but as usual, probably more than I can get done today.

Carrots are seeded. I'm done. Part of me wants it to rain and part wants it to wait till I put burlap over the carrot beds. Maybe I will do that before it gets dark. Why does my neck hurt after I plant? This is a new ache, I don't remember it from years past. Last year my wrist hurt after planting. I must be holding my head weird. Hope you all had a good day today.

Gosh. You all are power gardeners!! Totally out of any league I might ever be in. Even with the very small bunch of stuff I plant compared to the rest of you, it's still far far too much for us--that is, IF it grows and produces! There IS that.

My grape vine came back!!! I really thought the paraquat did it in but it is blooming like crazy. This year the net is on the birds got it every year except last year. This year is ours. It might help that the faucet drips a little while I am using it. Little man will be thrilled to see grapes.

Congrats! How long ago did you plant it, Kim?

I am at a loss. No advances been made to eradicate any Bermuda crap. I was in such a stupid long fog.... and now, I know, I will not be around this summer to take care of things....

But in my heart, I still have a garden... I just have to pull off a little corner here and there... and get going.

Kim, I want grapes again too...

Moni you can do it. Just do one little piece and dig some holes and fill them with treasures from the fling.

Nancy I inherited it with this property. The older gentleman that planted it has been gone over 15 years. I also have 6 fruit trees he planted. I also found some blackberry vines that look sad. They told him he'd never get to eat fruit from this place why bother and he said someone will. I thank him every time we get fruit. Last year sadly they were loaded and I had to trash it all. Except a few pears on the northeast side we really enjoyed those.

Love your stories, Kim. And Moni, hope you can get some of it done. . . and know you can.

I've planted Bloomsdale spinach and Mesclun (pkt says salad mix) and also arugula 2 weeks ago. So far I see tiny sprouts but I thought since pkt says ready to pick in about 30+ days, they'd be bigger by now! This is the first time I've planted greens. Because of the warm weather, I went ahead and got my pea, green beans and cucumber seeds planted. I'm no "weatherperson" and have lived in OK long enough to know to expect anything this time of year but I really think the frosty temps are behind us. AND last year I planted asparagus roots and saw them grow well. I'm so new at that veggie too so kept my fingers crossed. I got lovely big ferns come autumn and just left them there. They are brown and dry now but this morning I went out and saw some pretty green shoots poking up! Actually, I think they had been there a few days cause they're fat! So help me out any of you who are experienced with asparagus. Would this be considered the 1st or 2nd year for them? I know I need to wait for year 3 to enjoy them. Also, in a few days I'm going to go out there and cut down all of the brown stalks, then cover the bed with mulch. Is that a good plan? I didn't start my seeds for tomatoes this year as I plan to be gone for a couple of weeks and since I had horrible luck last year, wasn't up for another disappointing experience this year. I'll just buy them at my local nursery and get them in the ground when I get back. (OR haha, buy them tomorrow as I have a day off and I can get them established before I leave.)

Amy, I had read that asparagus doesn't do well with "competition" so have left it alone. So you grow other things in your bed and have success? I would be up to trying some other veggies around them if it's no big deal. I'm so reluctant to experiment, especially since I about died last year digging those dreadful trenches out of my hard clay soil!!!

Hailey, I think you and I were starting our asparagus beds at the same time last year. In the late fall, I cut down the ferns to soil level and covered with dead leaves during the winter. Currently, all the crowns have come up and some are almost 5 ft tall already. This is the second year... that's how I see it.. I might harvest a few for one meal and start the real asparagus harvest next year.

And I like the idea of sharing the asparagus bed with something else. The asparagus takes up two beds alone. Maybe some carrots or radishes planted in the center of the bed? The center seems so empty.

FEET???????? surely inches?? And yes!! We started at the same time! I only had (shame on me for not writing this down) about 8 out of 12 or so that I planted come up, I expect the others to spread. Of those 8, only 5 have shoots coming up right now. one of those plants have 2 shoots. How many of your plants have produced shoots? Hmmm. Radishes sound tasty. Oh! And my garlic and shallots are thriving!! I love looking at the pretty green rows of plants.

If your asparagus plants are in their first couple years and the crowns still have a small footprint then planting something like lettuce or bunching onions around the perimeter of the bed shouldn't be a problem since those are short rooted. I don't think I would plant tomatoes near the asparagus though.

We are still getting down into the low 40s some nights here in Missouri so still too early for warm weather stuff. My ALFD is still a couple weeks away yet. Heck, my tomatoes just started to sprout yesterday! The first warm weather seeds to be planted will be Provider bush beans in late April. I'm hoping to put out tomatoes about the same time. Cukes, squash, and pole beans will be around May 1

I have all of my potatoes planted now and the French Fingerlings are starting to push up the soil. A couple of my established asparagus beds started to send up spears in the last couple days but the purple asparagus bed I started last year is still asleep.

I've planted all of my onions and leeks and the garlic is growing fast. My snow peas are almost to the point of reaching the trellis. I pushed the envelope and planted them Feb. 18 and only had to cover them one time for a few days. My Horseradish crowns are all a couple inches tall. My first radishes should be sprouting any day now.

Weeds are all growing well! Dandelions are starting to bloom :-(

I wish I had spray free dandelions. I want to make some more jelly. I do not have any but I think I will get some seeds from my daughter.

Feel free to come pick all of the dandelions you want :-). The only place I spray is my gravel driveway. I wish my chickens would eat them.

I use dandelions going to seed as an indicator of when to start hunting for Morel mushrooms. Looks like it is going to be an early season this year around here.

If you don't want dandelions, get some geese. They think they're candy. Of course, they feel the same way about tomato plants.

I have read that asparagus and tomatoes are good companion plants. If I put a tomato in there it will be a dwarf. I grew green onions and leeks with the asparagus last year. Then the chickens decided that was their dust bath. There is currently some extra space in the bed, and extra space WILL be filled in my garden. I will probably put new asparagus seedlings in there when I figure out what plants survived the move. I grew my asparagus from seed. It is officially 3 years old this year, but we moved it this spring, so I will not be harvesting this year. I'm not sure, but I think the year you plant is the first year, so this would be year 2 for you.

I have some stalks that are thick and some very thin, but also very tall. I was wondering if the skinny ones are female, they look like they are budding. We will see. These were hybrids that are SUPPOSED to be male, but I had berries last year.

This year is a glorious dandelion year. I had all but eradicated them when I foraged for the bunnies. I asked my daughter NOT to pick any of them and it's very hard for her not to pick them. With the severe drought I want those deep drought-proof tap roots in the soil. Portions of the yard are barren already and the topsoil in these areas is turning to sand. So, I'm the contrarian on dandelions this year.

(Can't imagine how bad they'll be next year, though!)
bon

bon

I like dandelions because the bees seem to like dandelions. And they are a pretty yellow color.

Yes, Hailey, some of my asparagus is almost as tall as I am. I am 5'3. However, this wind has made those taller ones lay down. (Or is it lie down?) They're not broken, but sure are bent. They look crazy blowing in the wind.

So, LoneJack, my asparagus bed is 4 foot wide. There are 8 crowns in each bed and they are planted on the sides of the bed--4 on each side. There's a big empty spot in the center of the beds. Would carrots be okay to plant in that spot? Just a single row?

Kim, after the spring fling, stop by my property and pick all the dandelions that you would like. I'm about 5 minutes from Paula.

Thank you. That will be good stretching after the long drive.

I'm further south than y'all so may be a bit ahead of most of you. All our cool season crops were planted a while back. With the warm season plants, I've got all the tomato plants and pepper plants in the ground. I've also planted zucchini, yellow crookneck squash, cucumbers, sage, Mexican Mint Marigold (aka Texas Tarragon since it is a good substitute for tarragon that grows in our climate) and the first round of southern peas. I hope to get sweet corn and green beans planted today, and maybe more watermelons to go with the volunteer Sugar Baby plants. I'm almost out of space in the front garden, so after today, anything else I plant will be going into the back garden. I've got small basil seedlings I dug up out of a pathway but won't plant them in the ground until they're 3 or 4 " tall because my beds already have 3-4" of mulch on them, so tiny basil seedlings would have a hard time right now as the wind would blow the mulch over them and cover them up.

Planting today may or may not happen because we have a Wind Advisory and a Red Flag Fire Warning, so my chances of being able to stay home and work in the garden all day are probably somewhere between slim and none. I am a zombie this morning, having been out at a large grass fire in Thackerville from around 10 pm until almost 2 am. It is the largest grass fire we've been to in Thackerville in several years---probably since 2011, and at one point before we even got there, we were told homes were threatened. The firefighters stopped the fire before it made it to any structures. The wind did settle down a little bit early this morning, but it still was gusting in the upper 30s through mid-40s when we were at the fire scene, and I could hear it gusting loudly just before I finally fell asleep this morning. I can hear it gusting now.

The rain in yesterday's forecast missed us. I expect the rain in this morning's forecast to do the same. They've lowered our chance for rain on Sunday and I'm not feeling so hopeful that it will fall. The handwriting is on the wall---we're now in Moderate Drought here and the rain keeps missing us. That's a bad sign. On the other hand, I was sort of dreading getting too much rain before we had a chance to rototill the back garden and get it ready for planting. It hasn't achieved no-till status yet, so it is growing a healthy crop of weeds and grasses right now that we need to remove before we can plant. I hope to get the back garden rototilled tomorrow.

We harvested our first asparagus of the year in February and all the plants still are producing. Some of the larger spears still are as big around as my thumb, so the plants aren't running out of energy yet. I expect the harvest will end a lot earlier than usual since it started a lot earlier than usual. Yesterday's wind did break off some of the younger spears. I shrugged it off. Stuff like that happens. I'm harvesting more than we can eat anyway. I like to harvest asparagus first thing every morning when I go out to the garden just because I get busy and forget to harvest it if I don't do it first. If you let something grow in your asparagus bed, make it something that either likes shade or that finishes up early because once all the plants fern out, the shade beneath them can get pretty dense. I don't plant a crop in there with them on purpose now that the plants are so well-established and huge, but when they were younger, I had strawberries in part of that bed and sometimes planted a row of pepper plants along the southern edge of the bed. It is too shady to do that now, but I still get lots of herb volunteers in that bed, and I transplant most of them to where I want them or eventually weed them out. I usually let the Laura Bush transplants stay as a living ground cover, and I let the chamomile plants stay because they are short-lived and burn up in the heat pretty early.

Air temperatures and soil temperatures are insanely warm for this time of the year. I feel like our cool-season plants may struggle to produce if we stay so abnormally warm, but then, I like that the warm-season plants are getting off to a good, early start.

Another priority today is to weed the poppy patch. The poppies are emerging really well now, but so are the weeds.

Dawn,

I'm hoping your plants survive the wind advisory. You are about 2 hours south of me and if our wind yesterday and this morning is any indication of what you have in store, good luck planting. My husband has been hauling cattle down the western tx, ok and ks states. The winds are fierce and gaining strength all night. It was bad enough yesterday I thought we were going to have a mini tornado begin in the yard next to us. It just had a pocket that sounded like the beginning of a tornado in it. Ok, at least I would think, lol.

I did plant out several things yesterday that had protection from the wind though. My winter sowed plants are going to die from the heat and the wind so it was best to get them in ground and hope for the best. Scabiosa, gerbera daisies I grew from a friends last fall, honeywort, foxgloves, dianthus, phlox, datura, sweet peas. If the rains miss us this weekend, we will go ahead and plant the vegetable garden. If not, it seems we'll plant the first weekend in April. Since my hubby is not home much, it can take a bit to get it in ground.

Hailey, I'll try to attach a pic of my asparagus. It was taken today. Do you like how the leaf mulch blew to the edges of the bed?! It was so windy! Don't pay attention to the weeds. I'll deal with them on Monday. Lol

Karen, We did take a beating from the wind. A few of the tomato plants that were in the most exposed area of the garden had a little burn around the edges, but I honestly expected worse given that our wind gusted to at least 45 mph. The peppers, squash, cucumbers and zucchini came through in even better shape, so I think luck was on our side.

I wouldn't want to be out there on the interstate in this wind trying to haul cattle or anything else.

I did see one little dirt devil in our gravel driveway, and it probably was Thursday afternoon. I was surprised. To me those are more like what you'd see in western OK, KS or TX, but there that little swirly dirt was going round and round. It didn't last long, and it wasn't big like some I've seen in west Texas.

I hope your flowers are fine. This heat has been hard on everything, I think, especially in combination with the wind. And, if y'all are planting this weekend, good luck with it!

Today I noticed that a neighbor who lives a couple of miles north of us has three long (maybe 75-100') rows of brassicas.....judging by the leaves, maybe collard greens.....all in bloom. If my memory is correct, they planted the seed in late January or early February, and they had a really nice stand of solid rows with no gaps. I hated to see all those yellow flowers. I don't remember noticing them this morning, but maybe I was distracted when we went by. This afternoon there the yellow blooms were in all their glory. It isn't really shocking---our temperatures here during the last couple of months have fluctuated from the mid-20s (rarely) to the 80s and even the 90s a couple of times, and brassica crops tend to bolt in weird weather, but I still felt bad for that family. It is incredibly frustrating to have temperature fluctuations ruin the brassica crops before they even get a chance to produce much of a harvest.

I'm afraid this crazy weather may be really hard on the cool-season crops.

Hazel, That's one of the drawbacks to using leaves as mulch, but I use them anyway. A lot of my mulch is out in the pathways now courtesy of the wind, but it will be easy to rake it up and put it back where it belongs.

I coasted today and didn't actually plant anything. I did get a lot done, but it just didn't involve planting. My allergies are so horrible that I even started late outdoors and quit early. I am sure it is all the tree pollen, which is coating everything here with that light yellowish-green---the cars (especially the hoods), the lawn furniture, and virtually any flat surface outdoors. I had put up a large piece of floating row cover to block the south winds a day or two ago, and when I took it down today, it wasn't white any more---it was yellowish.

Tim rototilled about half the back garden to prepare it for planting. He'll finish it tomorrow, hopefully before the rain comes...if it comes. Lately the rain just keeps missing us. The back garden, which I should just refer to as Voleville, will be getting most of the warm-season plants since the front is largely filled up with cool-season crops plus tomatoes, peppers and flowers. A part of me wants to plant in advance of the forecasted rain that is expected Tuesday, and a part of me wants to wait and plant after the rain just in case the rain falls fast and there's lots of runoff.

Dawn

Hazel. . . I had no idea asparagus can be grown as a tree. Awesome asparagus trees! LOL (Years ago when I lived on the ranch, we grew wild asparagus over about an acre along the creek, and folks came from all around to gather it in the spring.) We'd crouch down close to the ground and try to spot it among the grasses; was like an Easter egg hunt-- asparagus hunt. At any rate, I'll confess that I've never see domesticated asparagus, and must plant a bed, since it's my favorite vegetable. Will scroll through past GardenWeb posts for info as well as other sites, so you all don't have to repeat yourselves. Great photo!!

The things one learns. . . towns named Voleville, asparagus trees, tomatoes sprouting big flowers, requests for dandelion plants. My my.

Yep, those certainly look like trees, Nancy. I guess they look like they're supposed to look? Really, I have no idea.

I like your asparagus hunt story. I wonder if wild and domesticated asparagus tastes the same.

Hailey and I talked a lot about asparagus last year, with much help from others. You should be able to find something about our conversation. If not, we will be happy to repeat. :)

Hazel--yes, wild asparagus tastes just like domestic.

Just this week I came across two stalks. (Crowns? Same thing? Not sure...) of what is unquestionably asparagus in a bizarre spot. Not in the garden, but at the northeast corner of the house under a gutter drain spout. It's a rather awkward location, against the house in the "weeds" and Bermuda that is the "lawn"... but I'd love to save and cultivate them if I can..

Your picture above, hazel, is what confirmed the plant for me. I can't believe how fast the stalks grow

Oh, and I put my tomatoes in the ground today and although I swore off summer squash, I can't help myself! I know the squash bugs will invade, but I'll pull them up when they get here, I think!!! I just love my squash too much not to plant!

Nancy, Voleville is the town of voles who plague our back garden, which has completely different soil from the front garden---sandy/silty soil versus well-amended clay. Some years the voles have eaten everything, and often the first clue is when you come out to the garden and a fig tree is lying sideways because they ate the entire root system. Other years they don't eat much. Since they often travel in underground tunnels, they can do a lot of damage before you know they are ther. They are driving me crazy in that garden and the ultimate solution will be to build raised beds lined with hardware cloth. The hardware cloth is expensive and I'd hope to avoid going that route in the back garden, but it looks like the best solution.

Yes, Hazel, your asparagus looks exactly like it should. Once you are able to begin harvesting, you keep it from getting that tall during the harvest period while you're harvesting daily, but once you stop harvesting, the plants can easily get 6-8' tall and thick and ferny. The asparagus plants really are quite beautiful and I love to watch them wave gently in the summer breezes. For anyone new to planting asparagus, the plant height after harvesting ends is why you would to put it at the northern end of your garden so that it does not shade everything else so heavily that it interferes in the growth of the other plants. It doesn't have to be the very northernmost row in your garden because you might want to strategically plant something that likes shade north of it, but it does need to be a lot more north than most other things you grow. The plants will fern out a lot more later on than they are now, and eventually they create a shade so dense beneath themselves that not much grows underneath them, which helps with weed control in the summer months when the asparagus plants are thick and dense.

The hotter the weather, the faster the asparagus grows, so while you won't be harvesting spears daily in the cooler, earlier part of the season, once the weather warms up, you may find you need to harvest daily or twice daily to keep the spears from getting too tall before you can harvest them. You want to harvest while they're fairly short because the taller they get, the tougher they get. Right now, I am harvesting twice daily--early in the morning when I first go out to the garden, and then late in the day before sunset. The amount of growth the spears make in 1 day in the kind of heat we're having now is just crazy, and is more typical of May. I fill up my freezer with asparagus in Spring because I harvest much more daily than we can eat, and then we are able to have asparagus year-round, enjoying it fresh in Spring and then eating the preserved asparagus the rest of the year. You also can preserve the excess by canning it, but I don't care for the texture of canned asparagus, so I just freeze ours.

If your asparagus bed is exposed to high wind that can snap off the plants, you may find you need to put up a trellis or some other support to keep the wind from breaking the plants once they are tall.

Fitzjennings, The crowns are the underground roots, the stalks are the vertical growth. We call them spears when they are short and we're harvesting them at the proper length, but once they are allowed to grow tall, they really are stalks. The crowns get very thick and dense over the years, so when you move yours, put them in a place where they can stay forever. A good asparagus bed that is well maintained often can provide a harvest for 15 years or more. Birds often plant asparagus plants by eating the asparagus berries late in the season and then sowing the seeds wherever they leave bird droppings.

Hailey, About 2 years out of 10, the squash bugs and squash vine borers never show up and I can harvest squash all year. Last year was one of those years. I like to plant squash as early as possible to get as much harvest as possible before the pests show up and make it harder. My last two squash pest-free years were 2011 and 2016, so statistically, it seems unlikely I'll be that lucky this year. With early heat this year, I think squash bugs might show up early and yet, you never know. Usually I see a lot of cucumber beetles all over everything in March and I haven't seen one yet. Of course, since I said that, undoubtedly I'll see one in the garden today.

I also grow some Korean varieties of summer squash that are C. moschata in the summer months, usually planting them later than the rest of my squash so I won't have too much squash at once. The Korean varieties have solid vines, making it nearly impossible for the squash vine borers to tunnel throught them, so SVBs rarely are an issue with them. Squash bugs still will attack them, so I still have to deal with them, but I am pretty good about killing all of them early in the season so we usually never let the squash bug population get out of control and become huge. Growing Korean summer squash has changed my gardening life as we never have to go without squash any more.

Congrats on getting the tomato plants in the ground early! I find that in the years when I get the tomato plants in the ground in March, my ultimate harvest is usually 2-3 times larger than when I plant them in April since they have several more weeks in the ground to grow and set fruit before the insane summer heat arrives and shuts down fertilization. Even better, much of the harvest is early so I can do the majority of my tomato canning in June and early July, which tend to be cooler than late July and August.

Dawn

Dawn, when would you recommend I try to transplant the volunteer asparagus ? In the winter ?