Spring is right around the corner and it is a very exciting time of the year for me. It’s time to chop down the cover crops. Some people leave the chopped cover crops right on their beds to compost and work back down into the soil. I prefer to take the chopped crops to the compost pile. The process of decomposition uses up some of the nitrogen from the soil and I want my soil to keep as much nitrogen as possible for my new seedlings.

During the rainy winter, lots of plans were made for my garden. Many of my seeds have already been started indoors to give them an early start. During early March, I’ll continue to start seeds indoors until I’m pretty sure we won’t be getting any more freezing weather. But at this time of year, many seeds can be sown directly into the ground. I will plant the lettuce, carrots, beet, radishes, chives and spinach seeds right into the garden. You should find the sunniest spot in the garden so that the soil is slightly warmer and plant away. After the first seedlings come up, thin them and plant more seeds, so that you’ll have a continuous crop.

If you’ve picked the sunniest spot in your garden, you may need to provide a little shade for your lettuce when the weather gets progressively warmer. We carry a permeable fabric that can be supported with stakes along the sides of the seed beds. This provides some shade but allows air to circulate and helps keep the lettuce cool and slows down bolting. You can also use the permeable fabric at the time of planting to protect the young seedlings from frost and cold. Choose one variety of seed or try planting a blend of the crops. We carry both. At Berkeley Hort, you’ll find 31 types of greens (plus 13 blends), 21 carrots (plus 3 blends), 12 beets (plus 1 blend), 13 radishes (plus 2 blends), 2 chives and 11 spinach varieties.

Check out our cross-reference list that is hanging on the wall by the seeds. If there is a variety of seed that you are looking for, this list will tell you which of our vendors carries that particular seed. As always, if you’re looking for a seed that we don’t stock, let us know and we’ll do our best to find it for you, or tell you where you might be able to locate it.

This year we are carrying a mixture of flower seeds called Beneficial Bug Mix. It is a blend of 18 different flowers that the good bugs can’t resist. You can also find a mixture of flower seeds called Deer Resistant Mix that contains 15 varieties that supposedly the deer don’t care for (though I’m not sure anyone has told the deer about that). Territorial Seeds provides both of these blends.

Happy Spring.

—Jeanne