Let the planting begin!

We just returned from a lovely weeklong vacation to the Caribbean, to find that the ground has mostly thawed in the garden.  Before we left, Mike built a new, improved, and greatly expanded seed starting shelving unit, and so this week I hope to both start seeds indoors AND do my earliest ever direct seeding in the garden.  As usual, by this point I've completely forgotten what seeds I ordered and what my original plans were, so it's time for me to sit down and make a rough plan as to when everything needs to get in the ground.  We also are expecting to get our fruit trees and canes from Fedco in the next couple of weeks, and I have a concert this weekend, so I realized today that I really do need to be a little more organized in my planting methodology this year to make sure it all gets done.  So, here goes, another fairly boring organizational post, but one that I hope will be tremendously helpful for me over the next few weeks (and next year, when inevitably I fail to remember when I planted everything the previous season).

Week of April 1 - April 14
Time to finish the garden cleanup!  We're in better shape than we were last year at this time, but there are still some beds that need attention, and we're adding compost to all of the beds, as well.

Direct seeding into the garden:
Parsnips
Sugarsnap peas
Arugula
Romaine lettuce
Beets
Scallions
Carrots
Radishes
Kale
Shelling peas
Rutabega

Start indoors
Fennel (translplant into garden mid-late May)
Flowers
Cauliflower (transplant into garden end of May)
Eggplant (transplant into garden first week in June)


Late April/Early May
Direct seeding:
Harukei turnips
Strawberry spinach
Second round of carrots, beets, radishes
Chard

Memorial Day weekend
Direct seeding:
Pole beans
Bush beans
Zucchini
Edamame (once soil warms to 60)
Winter squash
Cucumbers
Sunflowers
Buy tomato, pepper and brussels sprout seedlings and set out

Start indoors:
Green fleshed pineapple melon (plant out 2-3 weeks after sowing.  Also, figure out where to put this...)

July
Arat root parsley
Lettuces
Cold frame fall crops