You don't have to wait till May

Fresh salads and more, way sooner than you think.

A lot of gardeners in the US wait until May to start their vegetable plots, mainly full of tomatoes and other popular plants they can get as starts at the local big-box hardware store’s garden center.

But over the years, some of my best crops have been in the bracket seasons of early spring and fall: lettuce, mustard, and radishes as soon as April and turnips and carrots well into December.

All of these can be sown as seeds directly into the soil, too, cutting down on cost and fuss. Here’s a roundup of advice from the archives if you’re looking to get a jump on your garden here in early spring. My focus is on simple, nutritious vegetables that grow well in most climates with minimal labor and are versatile in the kitchen.

A spinach-like mustard variety.

“Salad days” is one of my most popular posts. I introduce you to the idea of spring gardening for your table, walking you through how we’ve integrated the garden into everyday eating, giving your body the fresh spring vegetables and flowers it craves.

Salad days

Speaking of those spring cravings, there’s a reason they occur: Greens are so good for us, providing essential nutrients the modern diet often lacks. Greens are also easy to grow, with a variety of ways to use them and preserve them for later. I’m fully on board the greens train, and I highly recommend you think about adding more greens to your own gardening list this spring. In this next post, I introduce you to some versatile greens for cooking.