The first week of March has flown by, and Spring Forward is this Sunday, ready to mess up your sleep schedule for weeks. Well, actual Spring is nearly here! March 19th is the Vernal Equinox this year.

The meteorological first day of spring is the same every year and occurs on March 1, but for most of us, the actual start of Spring is the Equinox. That is the truth about where I live, in Grow Zone 8b, in the Pacific Northwest. With it being an El Nino weather year, we had a “milder” winter (with one very long below-freezing arctic event in January (with snow), and recently, we had an unpredicted snow dump on us at the end of February. That was a mess, as the snow was very heavy. It bent over 3 of my agricultural fences!

Nonetheless, it is time to think about spring and get excited. For us on Whidbey Island, WA, the warmer weather is coming next week, and it should get in the 60s. There is so much to do; the busy season is finally nearly upon us.

With 11:30 hours of daylight this week, seeds have all they need to grow. And next week, the sun will set after 7 p.m., giving people time to work in their gardens after work or simply longer on weekends.

From spring to the summer solstice, we will have 16 hours of light, which is why the greens will grow even when it is still chilly at night. It will also become typical to have warm afternoons this month.

If you have a place to seed inside (a greenhouse, a sunny area inside, etc.), use it to start seeds, so you have plants to set out in the ground in the coming weeks. It will give you a jump start for growing and potentially an extra crop.

Speaking Of Seeds:

Sow Right Seeds offers great deals on seeds, and use code “SARAHK10” to save 10%! Yes, we use these seeds and they grow great for us.

Garden Tasks:

• Prune rose bushes.
• Get bare-root plants like fruit trees, nut trees, blueberries, berry canes, and roses.
• Plant flower bulbs.
• Plant onion sets that are bulbs.
• Weed beds.
• Shape rows if you grow this way.
• Clean out birdhouses, bird baths, and bird feeders. Scrub them well.
• Feed existing fruit trees, blueberries, and berry canes.
• Turn compost piles. Or start one!
• If you’re getting chicks, this is the season. They’ll be inside for 5 to 8 weeks, giving you time to get coops and runs ready.

What To Go Plant Right Now:

• Beets (seeds)
• Bok Choy (seeds or starts)
• Broccoli (starts are being sold now)
• Cabbage (starts are being sold now)
• Carrots (seeds)
• Lettuce (seed or starts)
• Onions (the starts sold at nurseries)
• Peas (seeds)
• Potatoes
• Radishes (seeds)
• Spinach (seeds)

Seeds To Plant:

To see more on when to seed and transplant, see here.

Below are seeds you can start in March and are ready to transplant, which are either colder-weather crops or need a longer start time. The dates are not set in stone; they guide what week may be most preferable to get them started. With a cold/wet spring, waiting a week or two more before seeding is smart.

The start of March is a good time to have seeds, potting soil, small pots, and a sunny window, greenhouse, or grow light system on hand. And if you start them later? It’s OK for many crops. And for temperamental ones like broccoli, you can always grow them as a fall crop, where they often fare better than in spring if you miss the window or late winter is too warm/cold.

We are using the last frost date as our guide and backing up to figure out when to seed, be it inside, outdoors directly, or when to transplant your seedling you started inside.

So for Zone 8b, if the last frost date is April 15th, the dates going back:

• 3 weeks: March 25th
• 4 weeks: March 18th
• 5 weeks: March 11th
• 6 weeks: March 4th
• 7 weeks: February 25th

Seed Chart

Artichokes

• Start inside the first week of March.

Beets

• For continuous crops, 48-60 days, seed direct from March and on, every two weeks.

Broccoli

• 70 days, start in the greenhouse 6-8 weeks before the last frost. Transplant after the last frost.

Cabbage

• 80 to 150 days, starting in the greenhouse six weeks before the last frost and transplanting three weeks before the last frost date.

Cauliflower

• 75-85 days. Start in the greenhouse 6-8 weeks before the last frost. Transplant after the last frost.

Carrots

• 65-70 days, seed directly in the ground, starting a few weeks before the last frost. Repeat every two weeks for continuous crops.

Celery

• 120 days, start in the greenhouse eight weeks before the last frost. Transplant after the last frost.

Eggplant

• Start indoors the first week of March and on.

Greens

• Bok Choy: 44 days, start in the greenhouse four weeks before the last frost.
• Kale: 50-70 days, start in greenhouse four weeks before last frost.
• Spinach: 44 days, start in greenhouse four weeks before last frost.
• Swiss Chard: 55 days, start in greenhouse four weeks before last frost.
• Swiss Chard and Kale can be reseeded directly or in the greenhouse through the growing season.

Herbs

• Start in a greenhouse in March, transplant, or set outside after the last frost.

Kohlrabi

• 60 days, start in the greenhouse four weeks before the last frost.

Lettuce

• Romaine: 60-80 days. Start in the greenhouse 4 to 6 weeks before the last frost, transplant after the last frost, and repeat every two weeks of seeding.
• Other leaf lettuce: 30-45 days. Start in the greenhouse 2 weeks before the last frost, transplant after the last frost, and repeat every two weeks of seeding.

Onions

• Eating: 110 days; start in the greenhouse eight weeks before the last frost. Transplant after the last frost. (We grow Walla Walla)
• Bunching: 75 days, start in greenhouse 4-8 weeks before last frost. Transplant after the last frost. Seed every two weeks for continuous crops.

Peas

• Dwarf: Seed directly 4 to 6 weeks before the last frost.
• Bush: 55-70 days, seed directly 4 to 6 weeks before last frost.
• Pole: 65-70 days, seed directly 4 to 6 weeks before last frost.

Peppers

• Hot: 70 days. Start in the greenhouse 8 to 12 weeks before the last frost. Transplant after
• Sweet: 75 days, same as above.
• Ancho: 80 days, same as above.

Potatoes

• Start planting on the 3rd week of March. Start prep of seed potatoes a week before.

Pumpkin

• Jack Be Little: 95 days. Start seeds 2 to 6 weeks before the last frost, and transplant after the last frost.
• Regular Pumpkins: 90-120 days, start 2 to 6 weeks before last frost. Transplant after last frost.

Rhubarb

• Start 8 to 12 weeks before the last frost in the greenhouse. Transplant after the last frost. Let’s establish before you harvest plants. A full year is the best.

Spinach

• Start direct seeding in the second week of March.

Squash

• Summer Squash: 40-70 days. Seed direct after the last frost. If starting in the greenhouse, 2 to 6 weeks before the last frost.
• Butternut: 95 days, start in greenhouse 2 to 6 weeks before last frost, transplant after last frost date.
• Winter Squash: 105-110 days; start in greenhouse 2 to 6 weeks before the last frost, transplant after the last frost date.

Strawberry

• Alpine: Alpine plants produce ever-bearing seeds. For a fall crop from first-year plants, start seeds in the greenhouse 8-12 weeks before the last frost. Slow germination is normal for up to 14 weeks once the last frost is passed, transplant to gallon pots and set outside to finish growing.

Tomatoes

• Dwarf: 60 days, start in greenhouse four weeks before last frost, or for bigger plants, up to 8 weeks—transplant in the first week of May (if warm enough, last year it was mid-June!).
• Shorter Season: 48-68 days, same as above.
• Heirloom: 60-80 days, same as above.

Turnips

• Direct seed March 15th and on.

See here for more about growing on Whidbey Island, Wa.

~Sarah

In the past, I have openly talked about how hard it was to watch people stop growing food once they got their “freedoms” back after Covid restrictions were lifted in 2022-23. During the pandemic, I watched a massive surge in people wanting to learn. Last year, in February, I held the second annual seed swap, and almost no one showed up for it. It was disheartening. It left me bitter to teach others how to grow food. I returned this year and held the 3rd annual seed swap with a better turnout last night, but it wasn’t anything to write home about. But I doubt I will ever see the turnout of 2021, when everyone turned out for it, desperate to get seeds and, more so, knowledge. At the same time, the people who came out for it were quality over quantity – and I enjoyed meeting new faces. I am a social creature, and I love talking about growing food.

But I keep at it, even when the world feels bleak. I won’t lie, though; homesteading fatigue is real. There are days you wake up and wonder if it’d all be better if you moved back to town, lived in a row of identical homes, and went back to 2016 when you were still normal. Or the days when I want to sell it all, drive off in our RV, and live on the road full-time. Reach out to my 2002 self, when all it was was me and my oldest son, and we went hiking every moment I wasn’t working, living the Ford Explorer life (back in the day before van life, for sure).

Or I look across the water to the mountains and deeply miss my hiking life. Homesteading the past 6 years cut into hiking. I couldn’t leave on week-long trips anymore. I had to be home to water and harvest in summer. I’d get a day here and there. And oh my soul misses being on the trail every week, multiple days every week. That is the fatigue, where you start to lose joy in what you do.

So I started seeding and working in my greenhouse later this year. The warm El Nino winter has helped, as I have been hiking quite a bit this winter. My face sees the sky daily, and my mental health is positive. No winter blues. And it’s helped a lot. I find now, when I go to the greenhouses, I am in the mood to work. It’s not a chore; it’s “I can do this!”.

But what changes my mood to sour is simply going into grocery stores. Prices for fresh produce are worse than they were last year.

And when I see the prices, my mind lights up – because I know I can grow better-looking, better-tasting, and healthier produce. I have the skill set. I have the means.

Berry prices are always high in the PNW in the off-season, so this isn’t a shock at all. Mmmmm! Underripe strawberries that were gassed for $8 a pound. Hard AND crunchy with no flavor. All those berries are grown in Chile, Peru, and Mexico.

$3 a bell pepper for underripe bell peppers with bruising. I am so glad I freeze-dried our peppers last summer. we are enjoying them all winter. And not paying $6 just for enough peppers to make fajitas.

And this was my sign of why I must continue to garden, homestead, and preserve our bounty.

But this one hit hard today—onions for nearly $4 a pound. One onion is nearly a pound now.

I read up on the why, as I have seen really high prices for onions all winter. White onions had a hard crop last summer. And until Mexico’s crops start coming in, the prices will stay high. Peru and Chile, which provide most berries in our winter, have faced a bad drought for their summer (which is winding down). Locally bananas range from 99 cents to $1.49 a pound, which is high but affordable (and we cannot grow those). That is about the only affordable fruit this winter.

Washington State finally put through a law that passed back in 2019, in the start of 2024.  It pertains with chickens not allowed in cages anymore. Even though growers had years to prepare for it, they acted shocked and there were egg shortages for weeks – with much higher prices. Those 5 dozen eggs used to be $11.49 last year.

Even worse, at a restaurant supply store.

The rising prices and quality controls are real issues. And they are your sign to work on it – and to be more self-sufficent. Whether gardening, food preservation, or raising chickens for eggs….it’s something to consider this year.

~Sarah