Spring Chores 2026

Issues

• Rhubarb- maybe that is just not a good spot? If you expand the Veggie garden, put the garlic and shallots outside the fence, maybe the rhubarb could go there as well? Still concerned that the whole thing looks neat and tidy in the yard. 
• Porch plants- Something that the rabbits, squirrels and groundhogs won't eat? Still a nice flower? Maybe Spotted Bee Balm? Weird looking, but cool. so far, so one has eaten the hyssop. 
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Chores

Veggie Garden

Irrigation

• Re-do irrigation for strawberries and carrot/ pepper bed. Use emitter tubing (6") in the bed. Put a shut off valve before strawberries so you are not watering them all summer.  Connect using barbed connectors. 
• Add 1/4" tubing and emitters for each pepper plant.

Planting Beds

• Raised bed for Cucamelons- 6'x3' raised bed $65
• Early spring- dig the carrot/ pepper bed. Must be dug down 8- 12" and loose soil. Remove ricks and sieve soil.  Good opportunity to add lots of compost. 
• Old tomato bed is still too high. After harvesting garlic and shallots, dig out the old tomato bed, remove soil and level.
• Move Lemon Balm to perennial bed, in a pot to prevent spreading

Perennial Bed

• Cut down trees in and behind compost pile
• Build compost bins
• Remove/move downed tree branch.
• Continue bed towards the compost pile
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Yearly Tasks

    Set up irrigation
    Amend soil
    Top dress with compost
    Mulch
    Fertilize perennials
   Add supports

• Set up drip irrigation. Roll out and connect hose. Attach water filter and timer. Replace broken emitters or split hoses.

• Amend soil two weeks before planting- mid-April. Replenish Veggie beds with Coast of Maine Tomato and Veggies Soil

• Top dress beds with compost. 
• Bagged compost from Schenectady County Conservation District. 
• Price 3 for $8 
• A 20 dry quarts package of potting soil is approximately 3/4 of a cubic foot.

• Mulch beds: Try pine shavings this year. Comes in bales in plastic from Tractor Supply. Or pine straw for strawberries and dried grass clipping for tomatoes. 

• Remove and store plant covers and wraps.

• Add plants supports before they start growing: Peony, Bells of Ireland, etc…

• Fertilize perennials: Hydrangea, Peony, Asparagus, etc…

Early Spring Chores

• Divide or transplant perennials: Aster, Balloon Flower, Bee balm, Black-eyed Susan, Catmint, Coreopsis, Dianthus, Echinacea, Hosta, Hyssop, Lamb's Ear, Phlox, Speedwell, Yarrow

• Rake up old wood chip mulch and put down 2-4 sheet layers of newspaper before replacing new mulch.

• Turn Compost. Sift and harvest completed compost and apply as top dressing for plants.

Veggie Garden

• Fertilizer Option 1: Choose a general All Purpose Fertilizer like Down to Earth
• Amend at planting- three beds are 96 square feet, 6 lbs fertilizer covers 110 sq. feet
• Use 2 types of Fish Emulsion: Tomato and Veg for the first few weeks, and Rose and Flowering for the rest of the season.
• Fertilizer Option 2: Heavy feeders like tomato and broccoli should receive 4.8 ounces per 100 sq. ft. Blood meal Recommendation: 0.5 ounces of 12-0-0 per 32 square feet
• Broccoli- side-dress 3 weeks after transplanting (side-dress broccoli a second time after central head is harvested to encourage small heads on side shoots).
• Tomato- side-dress when fruits first form.

• Harvest Asparagus more frequently (every day when they get going, once spears are 6-8", width of spread hand) and continue for six weeks, June 1 -14. Note when this falls this year for future reference.

• Dig cover crops in at least a month (early to mid April) before sowing or planting.

• Use fish emulsion for tomatoes and peppers. For determinate tomatoes, once in mid-June. For indeterminate tomatoes and peppers, apply monthly in the growing season: mid-June, mid-July and mid-August.

Fertilize Perennials

• Peony- An annual application of compost mixed with a very small amount of fertilizer around the base of the plant is all that is needed. When you do feed with compost and fertilizer, do it just after the plants have finished blooming.
• Hydrangea Macrophylla- For optimal growth, bloom production, and quality, fertilize three times:
• In early spring when plants are just leafing out
• In early May to boost their flower production for summer
• In late June/early July to help your plants finish the summer strong