Spring Gardening
By: Ben Manning
Updated: April 20, 2010
ALTOONA, BLAIR COUNTY - With the warm weather lots of people want to know what they can plant in the garden.
Doug Soss at Leighty's Farm Market says there are only a few flowers hardy enough to go in the ground right now. Petunias, pansies, marigolds and snap dragons are all good. Impatients and anything remotely tropical can't stand up to the cold nights.
There's also do's and don'ts for the vegetable garden too. Broccoli, cabbage, lettuce, spinach, pees, beets, and brussels sprouts are safe. But you can't plant tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers or melons.
Kelly Baronner says the warm weather has confused the plants as well as the farmers. The plants are coming about a week to two weeks early. And that means even perennials like her strawberries need some extra care. Soss says the same goes for flowers. Both gardeners say if it is going to frost you should cover up and plants that have started budding. Baronner says they will spray the strawberries with water to create an ice blanket for them. That actually prevents them from being damaged by the cold.
Baronner says if you talk to any farmers you'll find out the weather is never perfect. But she's confident things will turn out all right and they will have good crops this summer.
Doug Soss at Leighty's Farm Market says there are only a few flowers hardy enough to go in the ground right now. Petunias, pansies, marigolds and snap dragons are all good. Impatients and anything remotely tropical can't stand up to the cold nights.
There's also do's and don'ts for the vegetable garden too. Broccoli, cabbage, lettuce, spinach, pees, beets, and brussels sprouts are safe. But you can't plant tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers or melons.
Kelly Baronner says the warm weather has confused the plants as well as the farmers. The plants are coming about a week to two weeks early. And that means even perennials like her strawberries need some extra care. Soss says the same goes for flowers. Both gardeners say if it is going to frost you should cover up and plants that have started budding. Baronner says they will spray the strawberries with water to create an ice blanket for them. That actually prevents them from being damaged by the cold.
Baronner says if you talk to any farmers you'll find out the weather is never perfect. But she's confident things will turn out all right and they will have good crops this summer.
