Local gardening experts say now is the perfect time to start planning and planting for the season ahead.
According to Schoharie Master Gardener Elizabeth Brown, planning ahead is key to setting gardeners up for success.
“Springtime is an exciting season for gardeners,” she said in a statement, emphasizing the importance of deciding what to grow before purchasing seeds or plants.
“If you’re new to gardening this year, think about where your plot will be,” she said. “Most vegetables need full sun — six to eight hours a day. How close are you to a water source? Are you in a windy area? Will your space need protection from wildlife that may nibble on your plants? If you are growing in containers, look for varieties that mention being suitable for that or are labeled as dwarf. And if you have never gardened before, start small and build your skills.”
Marcie Foster, a horticulture and natural resource educator with Cornell Cooperative Extension of Schoharie and Otsego Counties, echoed the importance of timing when it comes to gardening. While warm March days can be tempting for an early start, she cautioned that snow is still possible.
“Things will vary within the readership, but the first thing to think about is the last frost date,” she said. “You use that as a gauge for when to plant and, to find that out, go to your Farmers’ Almanac. You can put in your zip code.”
Cooperstown’s last frost date is May 16, while Oneonta’s is May 23. She warned, however, that these dates are not guarantees.
“Take it with a grain of salt,” she said. “It does not necessarily mean we’re not susceptible to a later frost, but it helps to gauge and plan, but there is no crystal ball. People should be aware of weather conditions.”
Brown recommended establishing growers’ zones.
“This is a measurement of the average annual coldest temperature,” she said, noting that the map was updated in 2023 “to reflect the changing climate.”
Certain plants prefer an early start.
“You can start direct sowing – planting in the ground before the last frost – things like beets, carrots, kale, lettuce, peas,” Foster said. “Those can pretty much be worked into the soil before that lost frost date, typically around April 15.”
Others require a little more TLC.
“Around here there’s just not a long enough growing seasons for things like tomatoes, eggplants, peppers,” Foster said. “Those are the kinds of things typically started indoors, then brought outside after the last frost, around Memorial Day.”
Gail Lamond, co-president of the Hill and Valley Garden Club in Sidney, encouraged those growing from seed to start now, as some seeds take months to germinate. She added that while root vegetables like carrots and beets should be sown directly outdoors, plants such as tomatoes, peppers, and marigolds are well-suited for indoor starting.
While starting from seed offers a greater yield and an early growing advantage, Lamond acknowledges it requires dedication.
“The best thing about starting your own,” Lamond continued, “is, 1. You get a lot more and 2. You get a head start and, hopefully, they do good. But it’s a labor of love, starting from seed. You have to get grow lights and baby them and, I have found, they get leggy and you want plants tall and strong, so I’ll usually just buy them.”
Christine Roche, Sidney Center resident and the club’s other president, said, “I start some things from seed outside, but I don’t start vegetables inside. I think they need too much sunlight and I don’t have a greenhouse. I just wait until I can plant them outside.”
Roche, who has more than two dozen 4-by-8-foot or 4-by-10-foot raised beds, said her property conditions necessitated her growing style.
“My soil is so filled with clay that I had to do raised beds,” she said. “In the winter, I cover them with green mats, just to help cut down on weeds in the spring. Then you can keep the mats down when you plant your vegetables and flowers. In spring, there are some things you can start planting early, like peas and onions, but I plant the majority of things once there’s no fear of frost.”
Brown said that for beginners, it can be good to consider growers’ food preferences.
“Certain plants, like leafy greens such as lettuce, take up a small amount of space, can be grown easily in containers or in the ground and can offer a big harvest over a long time,” she said. “Want something quick? Try radishes, just a few weeks from seed to harvest. Root vegetables like carrots and beets, tend to be harvested once, as opposed to cucumbers, which can be harvested over weeks. Many people think there is nothing better than snacking on a fresh-picked green bean — so much better than canned or frozen. Swiss chard is a favorite — low maintenance, pest resistant, can be eaten raw and cooked and will produce right through the fall.”
Roche, who specializes in dahlias and planted nearly 200 of them last year, said bulbs and tubers like a later planting.
“I remember, as a child, my mother always had a huge vegetable garden,” she said. “I used to help her there … but I always enjoyed being out in the sunshine and the fresh air, then I started gardening about eight years ago on my own. I do some vegetable gardening, and I plant some other flowers and perennials, but I love dahlias because they come in all shapes and sizes and heights and colors. For dahlias, you definitely have to wait until there’s no threat of frost.
“I try to get them in by Memorial Day, but some of them take 75 days to bloom, some 90, some 120,” Roche continued. “They like a lot of water, once they come above the ground, and sometimes that can be a problem. I water them mostly every day, but not until they come above the ground, because the tubers can rot.”
Growers should be readying their grounds.
“Before (the last frost), I’ll just go over and turn all the dirt in the beds,” Roche said. “Every few years, I try to find some manure to put in there and mix in. That’s not always easy to find, because you need to know where to get it.”
“If the frost is out of the ground and it’s not muddy, you can start preparing the soil while waiting for seedlings to grow,” Brown said. “Remove any plant material from the prior year. Lots of different tools are available to turn the soil over — garden shovels, forks, tillers, broadforks and rototillers. The object is to turn the soil and loosen any clods. Now is a good time to add organic material, such as compost. This will add nutrients and improve drainage.”
“A lot of people are getting their gardens raked up and cleaned up right now and, for the most part, you have to pull any weeds you see,” Lamond said. “The ground is still thawing out, so some won’t come up, but it’s getting beds ready and turning the soil to get it nice and loose. I have leaves I add to my beds, and we rototill them right in. I’ve never used fertilizer, because the leaves are great.
“And there is a fertilizer for flowerbeds that we learned about (during a club presentation) from a speaker, and she uses 5-10-5,” she continued. “She uses that at this point, before the leaves (of new plants) come out, because it can burn them, but you sprinkle that on your garden and that’s it for the year, and it’s amazing stuff.”
Sourcing plants, tools and other supplies matters.
“I will always go to a garden center,” Lamond said, recommending S&S Landscaping Depot in Sidney.
“I do buy a few plants from nurseries, and I buy from local nurseries. I don’t buy from Home Depot,” Roche said.
“There are many local options for finding your plants,” Brown said. “Be realistic when purchasing plants. One zucchini plant is sufficient for a household, but if something comes only in a six-pack, keep one for yourself and share the rest with friends and neighbors. If you’re looking to start from seed, there’s nothing wrong with purchasing the four for $1.00 packets at discount stores. They typically offer tried-and-true varieties that do well in most gardens.”
Because of winter conditions, this season should be a bountiful one.
“I think it’s safe to say, if we’re on track and don’t have drought conditions or really cold, wet, that we’re on track to be relatively normal to start,” Foster said.
“This winter seemed colder and windier than those in recent years,” Brown said. “But there was also a snowpack on the ground for a long time. The snow is an insulating layer on perennial plants, which helps shelter the plants from the brutal wind. It also adds moisture to the ground, especially important to the roots.”
“The way the climate is changing, you just have to be ready,” Lamond said. “The other thing was, we had a really nice snowpack, so that protects the plants and the ground better.”
Though it can be labor-intensive and finnicky, nothing beats the rewards reaped from gardening.
“I love doing it,” Lamond said. “I’ve had to scale back – I’m going to be 65 next month – but it’s always been a love of mine, and I’ve learned a lot and helped people out. When I was in high school, I always had plants in my room, I always liked to be outside and play in the dirt. So, for a long time, I’ve liked plants … and I would help my mom with the plants outside, and she did gardening, too, so it wasn’t unusual.”
Lamond said that her mother, Jane Cole, together with friends, Lorrie Roach, Marge Suriano and Linda Thomas, founded the Hill and Valley Garden Club 27 years ago.
“I do think it’s a great form of exercise, but mostly, there’s nothing better than getting your hands in the dirt,” Roche said. “And there’s nothing better than, every day before dinner, going down to your garden to collect your dinner or, all winter long, I can go to my freezer and take out vegetables. It’s very satisfying.”
“Gardening is a very rewarding, lifetime activity, but it can also be time consuming,” Brown said. “Don’t get discouraged if the weeds get ahead of you, just enjoy the time spent outside and learning how to grow and care for your garden. Most experienced gardeners know that every year is a new year, we learn what did well one year and what mistakes to avoid next year. There is always a new variety to grow, a different tool to try, and a new method to practice.”
For more information, find “Hill and Valley Garden Club of Sidney” on Facebook. The group meets the third Wednesday of each month at the Sidney Memorial Pubic Library.
Visit cceschoharie-otsego.org for what Foster called “a lot of good information on gardening and other resources that are really, really good.”
Any Otsego County resident with questions for Master Gardeners is encouraged to call 607-547-2536, extension 228, or email mastergardener-otsego@cornell.edu. Questions also may be submitted online.