What to plant in March: zone 6b

Chit potatoes in a bright, cool spot for 2 weeks. Sprouted pieces jump ahead once planted.

6 weeks of indoor growth before your last frost (04-25). Bury 2/3 of the transplant stem. Roots form along the buried stem for a stronger plant.

6 weeks of indoor growth before your last frost (04-25). Fall crop sweetens after first frost. Plan a July sowing for the best flavor.

6 weeks of indoor growth before your last frost (04-25). After cutting the main head, side shoots keep coming for weeks: don't pull the plant.

6 weeks of indoor growth before your last frost (04-25). Pinch flower spikes the moment you see them: leaves stay sweet all season.

6 weeks of indoor growth before your last frost (04-25). Firm heads need steady water and steady nitrogen. Once a head feels solid, cut it: leaving it in summer heat splits it open overnight.

6 weeks of indoor growth before your last frost (04-25). Cauliflower is the fussiest brassica: any check in water or nitrogen makes it button into a tiny head. Blanch white types by tying outer leaves over the curd.

6 weeks of indoor growth before your last frost (04-25). This is a fall crop: frost is what turns the sprouts sweet. Around 4 weeks before harvest, top the growing tip so the plant pushes size into the sprouts.

6 weeks of indoor growth before your last frost (04-25). Harvest the swollen stem at tennis-ball size, no bigger: past that it turns woody and fibrous fast.

6 weeks of indoor growth before your last frost (04-25). It's slower and fussier than cauliflower; give it the longest cool-weather window you can, spring or fall, not summer.

6 weeks of indoor growth before your last frost (04-25). Grows from a small tuberous root that overwinters indoors in pots north of zone 7; pick fruit at grape size for the best crunch.

6 weeks of indoor growth before your last frost (04-25). Plant at least two for pollination: a single tomatillo rarely sets fruit. Husk turns papery and splits when ripe.

6 weeks of indoor growth before your last frost (04-25). Fruit drops when ripe, husk and all: rake or hand-pick off the ground every few days rather than picking from the plant.

6 weeks of indoor growth before your last frost (04-25). Cool fall weather brings out its best deep red color and mellows bitterness; grow it as a fall crop where possible.

6 weeks of indoor growth before your last frost (04-25). Snip flower stalks as they appear to keep leaves tender; the lemony tang fades if the plant is allowed to bolt.

6 weeks of indoor growth before your last frost (04-25). Not a true spinach; it's a vigorous heat-loving vine that replaces greens through the hottest weeks other greens can't survive.

6 weeks of indoor growth before your last frost (04-25). Harvest just before flowering for the best flavor, then shear the whole plant back for a second flush.

6 weeks of indoor growth before your last frost (04-25). Pick flowers at midday once fully open, on a dry day, for the strongest tea; it dries quickly on a screen out of direct sun.

6 weeks of indoor growth before your last frost (04-25). Self-sows aggressively once established; pinch spent flower spikes if you don't want volunteers taking over next spring.

6 weeks of indoor growth before your last frost (04-25). Needs a long, warm, frost-free season to set seed; stake plants, as the thin stalks flop once seed heads fill out.

6 weeks of indoor growth before your last frost (04-25). Self-sows freely once established; use a light hand in cooking, since the flavor is strong and a little goes a long way.

5 weeks of indoor growth before your last frost (04-25). The most forgiving green in the garden. Harvest bottom leaves upward and it produces for months. Leaves picked after a frost are noticeably sweeter.

5 weeks of indoor growth before your last frost (04-25). Grow it as a fall crop where possible: napa bolts in spring heat but forms a tight, sweet head in cooling fall days.

4 weeks of indoor growth before your last frost (04-25). Succession sow every 2 weeks. Harvest outer leaves for a cut-and-come-again supply.

4 weeks of indoor growth before your last frost (04-25). Cut outer stalks 2 in above the crown and the plant keeps producing from spring into hard frost. One planting can feed a household all season.

4 weeks of indoor growth before your last frost (04-25). Okra wants hot soil, 70F+, or seed rots. Pick pods at 3-4 in every other day: one pod left to toughen tells the plant to stop producing.

4 weeks of indoor growth before your last frost (04-25). Bolts fast once days lengthen past 14 hours. Grow it as an early spring or fall crop, not a summer one.

4 weeks of indoor growth before your last frost (04-25). Flowers self-pollinate then push a stalk (peg) into the soil to form the pod underground: keep soil loose around the base.

4 weeks of indoor growth before your last frost (04-25). Pick fruit while still green and firm; left to yellow and split, it turns bitter to the point of inedible.

4 weeks of indoor growth before your last frost (04-25). Pick young for eating like a squash, or leave on the vine until the skin browns and dries for a bath sponge.

4 weeks of indoor growth before your last frost (04-25). Blanch heads by tying outer leaves shut 2 weeks before harvest to mellow the natural bitterness.

4 weeks of indoor growth before your last frost (04-25). Broader and milder than curly endive; a light frost sweetens the outer leaves before harvest.

4 weeks of indoor growth before your last frost (04-25). Soak seed 24 hours before sowing to soften the hard seed coat; it thrives in summer heat that bolts true spinach.

4 weeks of indoor growth before your last frost (04-25). Bolts fast in heat or from a check in growth; keep it evenly watered and harvest the bulb once it's baseball-sized, before it flowers.

Goes out 6 weeks before last frost. It takes the cold.

Goes out 6 weeks before last frost. It takes the cold.

Goes out 6 weeks before last frost. It takes the cold.

Goes out 6 weeks before last frost. It takes the cold.

Goes out 6 weeks before last frost. It takes the cold.

Goes out 6 weeks before last frost. It takes the cold.

Goes out 6 weeks before last frost. It takes the cold.

Goes out 6 weeks before last frost. It takes the cold.

Goes out 6 weeks before last frost. It takes the cold.

Goes out 6 weeks before last frost. It takes the cold.

Goes out 4 weeks before last frost. It takes the cold.

Goes out 4 weeks before last frost. It takes the cold.

Soil is ready -6 weeks before last frost.

Soil is ready -6 weeks before last frost.

Soil is ready -6 weeks before last frost.

Soil is ready -6 weeks before last frost.

Soil is ready -6 weeks before last frost.

Soil is ready -5 weeks before last frost.

Soil is ready -4 weeks before last frost.

Soil is ready -4 weeks before last frost.

Soil is ready -4 weeks before last frost.

Soil is ready -4 weeks before last frost.

Soil is ready -4 weeks before last frost.

Soil is ready -4 weeks before last frost.

Soil is ready -4 weeks before last frost.

Soil is ready -4 weeks before last frost.

Soil is ready -4 weeks before last frost.

Soil is ready -4 weeks before last frost.

Soil is ready -4 weeks before last frost.

Soil is ready -4 weeks before last frost.

Soil is ready -4 weeks before last frost.

Turn in compost, cut down cover crops, and let the soil warm two weeks before the first sowing.

Two weeks of increasing outdoor time keeps cold-hardy seedlings from stalling when they go out.