Good Afternoon Louisville! Welcome to the first edition of “Practicing plant parenthood”, a walking commentary on the nature of plants, gardening and Jefferson County. Let me know what you think and the horticultural topics you are interested in. In the mean time I’ll jump right in.

Spring in Kentucky! This past week we have seen rain, sunshine, wind, low and mild temperatures and now possible snow this weekend. Weather in Jefferson County is never boring but it makes gardening and working in our yards very frustrating. Although it is too early for tomatoes and peppers there are early crops that you can grow now. These crops produce their vegetative growth during spring’s short, cool days. Most of these plants are grown for their leaves (lettuce, spinach), stems (celery), flower buds (broccoli, cauliflower) or immature fruit (peas). If planted too late in spring, longer warm days can reduce their quality by causing some to flower and form seeds (to bolt) and others to develop strong bitter flavor, poor texture and little quality.

 Plant as soon as the soil is workable but dry enough not to form wet clods. Working in the soil when it is wet can ruin the texture for years by compaction. Wait for good soil conditions regardless of how bad your fingers are itching to work in the garden. (This applies to landscape planting as well.)

In the following table you can see that there are many suitable crops for an early garden. Jefferson County is considered central Kentucky.

Pick out your favorites and practice some plant parenthood of your own this spring!

Tip – Do not mulch in early spring. Let the sunlight warm the soil to aid root growth. After the first of May apply organic mulch to conserve soil moisture and temperature as well as for weed control. 

Earliest and Latest Planting Dates -from ID-128

Click to see the full publication ID-128 Home Vegetable Gardening in Kentucky