What to plant this time of year

Brought to you by Ace Hardware of Shelley.
Written by Candice Christensen

Spring is a fickle time here in our neck of the woods. Mother nature in East Idaho likes to keep us guessing. We may not know if the day will have birds and sunshine, spring rains and winds, or a sudden few inches of snow that appears overnight. We hardly can keep up on how to dress for the weather day to day, let alone what to plant in our gardens. 

Most of us have been itching to get plants in the ground from the moment those seed catalogs arrived in our mailboxes. Living in zone 5 means that for most of us, patience is required. Those of us who jump the gun and have tried planting too early this year or in years past have definitely known some frustrating losses. Does that mean we have to stare longingly at those garden gloves until after memorial day or until there is no snow on Taylor mountain? No! There are a few things you can do to prepare, and vegetables that are ready to plant despite the cold temps.

You may have already planted a few crops, but if you haven’t yet, here’s a quick reminder of your options. Almost all of your leafy greens will enjoy the cooler weather and many of them, kale being the first to come to mind, is very frost hardy and may impress you with its fighting spirit through the cold snaps. Not a fan of kale? Maybe carrots are on the top of your garden list this year. Carrots really need cooler soil in order to germinate so if you were waiting to plant them along with your tomato starts, slip on your garden shoes and get those tiny seeds sown now! Peas, lettuce, cabbage, and onions are all ready to go in the ground as well. Radishes are happy to be sown in the early spring and are a quick turnaround crop. Wish you enjoyed radishes more but they pack too much of a punch for your particular pallet? Try a new variety. French Breakfast radishes are a more mild variety and could make you change your tune on this tiny veggie. 

Whatever your garden strategy we can all agree that the few sunny days we receive cannot go to waste. So whether you’re planting or tilling, mulching or sowing, it’s great to just be getting our hands in the dirt. Happy gardening East Idaho.