🗓️ Sowing in March: vegetable garden calendar

Sowing in March isn't the only thing we do indoors. We are also moving the cold-hardy plants we started in February to the greenhouse. This frees up space under the grow lights for new plants that would be too cold under glass right now.

I won't list the crops you can pre-sow this month; for that, you can check the sowing calendar for March. But I will give you the main groups:

• Warmth-loving crops such as eggplants and tomatoes (second half of March). We sowed peppers and chili peppers last month, and for cucumbers, melons, and pumpkins, it is still much too early.
• Succession crops for the greenhouse plants that are harvested before the Ice Saints. The lettuce we sowed in February is now in the greenhouse and will be ready in early April. But if you sow another round of lettuce now, you'll have a succession crop that will, in turn, be gone before the Ice Saints. I grow three generations of lettuce in my greenhouse before the tomatoes are planted out.
• The first outdoor crops can also be pre-sown indoors in March: cabbages, beets, bulb fennel, early autumn leeks, and not to forget... flowers, flowers, and more flowers.

Besides sowing and moving kitchen garden plants, we are also pre-sprouting our potatoes. I use empty egg cartons to set the seed potatoes upright. If you place them in a cool (5-15°C) and light spot, short dark shoots, known as sprouts, will appear from the eyes of the potatoes. These give your plant a head start in the season. I then plant the potatoes out in the potato bed in early April.

Are you new to planting potatoes or just curious about what else we have to say about it? Read our growing guide on planting potatoes: Growing your own potatoes, your potato success in 9 steps

Do you remember the 2 indoor sowings I mentioned in the kitchen garden calendar for February:

• Greenhouse plants that are out of the greenhouse before the Ice Saints
• Very early greenhouse crops purely for an early harvest

Well, those two groups can be moved to the greenhouse for planting out in March. They also free up space indoors under the grow lights as I mentioned earlier in this article. Warmth-loving plants like peppers and chili peppers, and plants that have slow growth like leeks and celeriac, remain indoors under the lights for now.

Furthermore, I advise you to set up your greenhouse practically. Anticipate the masses of vegetables that you’ve started indoors or are beginning in pots in the greenhouse. I place Danish trays on my seeding tables, which allow me to easily water the hundreds of seedlings that need to grow a bit more before they can be transplanted into the ground. Dozens of P7 and P9 pots fit in those Danish trays. I just pour my 2 to 5 liters of water into the Danish tray and can water all the trays of vegetable plants in 10 minutes.

I’ll give you two more tips for the greenhouse in March. The first is to arm yourself against frost. It’s still only March, and it can still freeze quite a bit. Just imagine, all your hard work... I know that in my greenhouse, I run into problems if it gets colder than -2°C. I protect my plants with fleece fabric or a small heater. Since I generate and store green energy, I choose this Phoenix heater, which keeps my greenhouse frost-free.

But as mentioned, it also works with fleece fabric laid over the plants. It is very light and insulates your plants well. If it gets really cold (below -5°C), I would recommend, if you don't have a heater, to evacuate your plants from the greenhouse and give them a cool, bright spot in the house until the harshest frost has passed.

As a final tip for the greenhouse, I would advise sowing radishes between the early greenhouse crops. You can harvest those within 4 to 6 weeks. Long before your beetroot, cabbages, or Florence fennel are full-grown. They are super healthy snacks... at least if you don't put fatty cocktail sauce on them like I sometimes dare to do :p

It’s wonderful to work in the garden with those first sunbeams. To me, it feels more like a 'temptation' than a chore that needs to be done. Tools, garden supplies, and a Bluetooth speaker in the wheelbarrow. Music on and go. Checking off the list in my head and getting started with:

• Giving my greenhouse a cleaning. Just with a pressure sprayer and water. Only scrub the stubborn algae and moss with a scouring pad or glass scraper, then spray clean. You don't really need soap. Don't forget to clean the inside as well. And once everything is clean again, the sunbeams can once again provide optimal growth light for your greenhouse crops and waiting plants.
• March is the ideal time to turn your compost heap and give it some air. After cleaning the beds, you've probably thrown plenty of plant debris, some weeds, or other organic material onto your compost pile. Mix it with undigested material from the existing compost heap and add some well-rotted compost so that the fungi and bacteria within it can immediately start converting the coarse material into compost. You'll be amazed at how quickly the compost pile sinks. Check out this video to see how Ruud built a system with three compost bins.
• In this third month of the year, I also build all my support structures. You can utilize your vegetable garden not only in length and width but also in height. Think of raspberries, blackberries, Japanese wineberries, tayberries, pole beans, tall peas, mini pumpkins, climbing courgettes, ... I often use freecycled material to make the structures, such as old garden fencing or chicken wire. If you don't have that available, you can also use these handy support posts and tension wire. You buy them once and can reuse them year after year in your vegetable garden.
• One last chore that is very important is cleaning up your beds of asparagus plants. Or, of course, planting asparagus plants if you want to. In our video "Grow it yourself in March", Ruud explains how to get your bed for green asparagus in top shape. Tom then shares his technique for growing white asparagus on a ridge. If you want to become a true asparagus queen or king, also check out our growing guide and growing video on growing asparagus.

The first things that come to mind are onion sets, shallot sets, peas, spinach, and carrots. But if you use our sowing calendar for March, you'll see that numerous crops can already be planted in March. Keep the weather in mind; if the ground is soggy and wet or still frozen solid, push your crops back a month. Most of the crops that you can sow in March are also included in the sowing calendar for April.

• 🪟 Endive (Spring) - growing guide sowing endive and our endive seeds
• 🏠 🪟 🪏 Leek (Early autumn, Late autumn and Winter) - growing guide sowing leeks and our leek seeds
• 🪏 Arugula (Normal) - growing guide sowing arugula and our arugula seeds
• 🪟 Lettuce (Spring) - growing guide sowing lettuce and our lettuce seeds
• 🪏 Spinach (Spring) - growing guide sowing spinach and our spinach seeds
• 🪏 Chard - growing guide sowing chard and our chard seeds

Tip: Prefer sowing leafy greens like lettuce and endive in a seed tray. This allows the seeds to germinate under ideal conditions, ensuring a strong and healthy start for the plants.

• 🪟 Cauliflower (Spring and summer cultivation) - growing guide growing cauliflower and our cauliflower seeds
• 🪟 🪏 Broccoli (Early and summer)- growing guide growing broccoli and our broccoli seeds
• 🏠 Kohlrabi (Early) - growing guide growing kohlrabi and our kohlrabi seeds
• 🪟 🪏 Radish (Early under glass and early open ground) - growing guide sowing radish and our radish seeds
• 🪟 🪏 Red cabbage (Autumn and storage) - growing guide growing red cabbage and our red cabbage seeds
• 🪏 Savoy cabbage (Autumn)  - growing guide growing savoy cabbage and our savoycabbage seeds
• 🪟 🪏 Brussels sprouts (Mid-early and mid-late) — Brussels sprouts can be sown in March under glass for an early start. Early sowing is recommended because Brussels sprouts need a long time to grow into harvestable plants.  - growing guide growing Brussels sprouts and our Brussels sprout seeds
• 🏠 Garden cress (Sprouts) - growing sprout guide and our sprout seeds
• 🪟 🪏 White cabbage (Autumn and storage) - growing guide growing white cabbage and our white cabbage seeds

• 🏠 Aubergine/Eggplant - growing guide growing aubergines and our aubergine seeds
• 🏠 Gherkin - growing guide growing gherkins and our gherkin seeds
• 🏠 Cucumber - growing guide growing cucumbers and our cucumber seeds
• 🏠 Pepper - growing guide growing peppers and our pepper seeds
• 🏠 Bell pepper/Paprika - growing guide growing bell peppers and our bell pepper seeds
• 🏠 Tomato - growing guide growing tomatoes and our tomato seeds

Tip: For a good start, sow these fruiting vegetables in pots indoors. Ensure sufficient light (sun or grow lights) and a stable temperature. Tomatoes, bell peppers, and chili peppers love warmth, but dislike wet feet.

• 🪟 🪏 Peas (Sow on-site or under glass) - growing guide on sowing peas and our pea seeds
• 🪟 🪏 Snow peas/Sugar snap peas (Sow on-site or under glass)  - growing guide sowing snow peas or sugar snaps and our snow pea seeds
• 🪏 Broad bean (Normal cultivation) - Broad beans are easy to grow and can be sown directly outdoors or in a cold frame in March for a good harvest in the summer. - growing guide sowing broad beans and our broad bean seeds

• 🪏 Garlic (Spring planting)  - growing guide for garlic and our garlic planting stock
• 🪟 Celeriac (Summer)  - growing guide sowing celeriac and our celeriac seeds
• 🪏 Parsnip (Early)  - growing guide growing parsnips and our parsnip seeds
• 🪟 🪏 Beetroot (Very early and early) - growing guide growing beetroot and our beetroot seeds
• 🪏 Shallot (Brown and yellow) - growing guide planting shallots and our shallot planting stock
• 🪟 Spring onion (Summer crop) - growing guide growing spring onions and our spring onion seeds
• 🪏 Onion (Sets, seed onions, spring onions or pickling onions) - growing guide planting onions and our onion sets
• 🪟 🪏 Carrot (Early and summer) - growing guide sowing carrots and our carrot seeds

In March you can also sow radishes; they grow quickly and are easy to cultivate, both under glass and in open ground. Radishes can often be harvested quickly, frequently after just a month.

• 🏠 🪟 Chives - growing guide sowing chives and our chive seeds
• 🏠 🪟 Chervil (Pre-sowing) - growing guide sowing chervil and our chervil seeds
• 🏠 🪟 Mint - growing guide sowing mint and our mint seeds
• 🏠 🪟 🪏 Parsley (Pre-sowing and summer) - growing guide growing parsley and our parsley seeds
• 🏠 🪟 Rosemary - growing guide sowing rosemary and our rosemary seeds
• 🏠 🪟 Sage - growing guide sowing sage and our sage seeds
• 🏠 🪟 Thyme - growing guide growing thyme and our thyme seeds

Chives can be grown well in pots and containers, but also do well in open ground.

🪏 Potato (Early crop – planting seed potatoes) - growing guide growing potatoes and our seed potatoes

• Strawberries: growing guide growing strawberries and our strawberry plants

March is the calm before the storm. Usually, the soil has just not yet warmed up enough to signal the perennials to start growing. The good news is that March is an ideal time to plant fruit trees and small fruits (especially those in pots) in your garden without growth delay. With the first signs of warmth, the roots in the potting soil of your pots will encounter your garden soil and curiously go in search of nutrients. I'll give you two of our collections that are sure to make your mouth water:

• Small fruits
• Fruit trees

It is amazing what you can still get fresh from the garden in March, provided you use the right cultivation methods. For example, winter leeks can often be harvested until March, as one of the last winter vegetables. Compare it with what you still harvested from the garden in March last year. Combine it with the crops from your stock and you will eat from your garden all year round.

• 🪏 Leek (Winter)
• 🪟 Spinach (Winter)
• 🪟 Lamb's lettuce (Cold glass late)

• 🪏 Celeriac (Summer)
• 🪏 Parsnip (Normal / Autumn)
• 🪟 Carrot (Super early)

• 🪏 Kale (Winter)
• 🪏 Broccoli (Autumn)
• 🪟 Radish (Early under glass)
• 🪏 Savoy cabbage (Late)
• 🪏 Brussels sprouts (Late)
• 🏠 Garden cress

Choose a dry moment to loosen the soil and create fine seedbeds. Sometimes you have to wait until the open ground has warmed up sufficiently and is workable before you start sowing. Here you can sow early carrots, radishes, spinach, and arugula directly in the open ground. Do not sow in soaking wet soil, as the sowing furrows will silt up and seeds will germinate poorly. For sowing small seeds, it is useful to mix them with sand or dry soil for an even distribution.

A layer of fleece over your beds works wonders: you can use it to cover your crops to protect them against frost, it keeps out the worst cold and wind, protects against birds, and speeds up the warming of the soil. Ideal for early root crops and leafy greens.

Have you already sown a lot indoors or in the greenhouse? Do not let your young plants move outside from one day to the next. Place them outside in a sheltered spot for a few hours a day first and build that up slowly. This prevents scorching and stunted growth.

Place your seed potatoes in a light and cool (but frost-free) place, for example in egg cartons. Short, sturdy sprouts give a head start in the spring and often ensure an earlier and better harvest.

In March, weeds also begin a comeback. By hoeing weekly or weeding by hand now, you can effectively combat weeds before they grow into a big chore in April and May.

For peas and snow peas, you can already place netting or branches (e.g., pea sticks). This way, you won't have to disturb the soil around the roots later, and the plants will grow straight up immediately.

Young seedlings are a delicacy for slugs. Use hiding boards, coffee grounds, unfriendly habitats for slugs, and organic slug pellets if necessary. The earlier you start, the better you can keep the population under control.

March is the perfect time to give your greenhouse a thorough cleaning if you didn't do so during the winter. Wash the windows, remove old plant debris, renew the top layer of soil if needed, and get it ready for tomatoes, cucumbers, and peppers.

Note down what you are sowing where, which varieties you are using, and when you sowed them. Always keep the seed packaging as well, so you can consult the sowing instructions, such as sowing depth and germination temperature, whenever necessary. Seeds should be sown at the correct depth, which usually means covering them lightly with soil. This helps you with crop rotation, adjusting during the season, and improving your kitchen garden year after year.

In March, also sow flowers for bees and other beneficial insects, such as marigolds, cornflowers, cosmos, and French marigolds. French marigolds are popular annuals to sow in March because they are easy to grow and have beautiful flowers. You can choose to sow these flowers because they are not only attractive to insects but also provide a rich bloom during the summer months. They ensure more natural pollination and simply make your kitchen garden look better. It is important to select the right annual flowers for your garden.