With March here, the growing season is really upon us. A collection of what seeds to sow now is not as necessary as it was over the Winter months, as in March with days getting longer, and temperatures slowly rising (certainly towards the end of it), you'll be able to sow almost anything that you want!
That being said, it is always good to know the last frost date in your area, and base your seed sowings around that. You can view more information on this here.
Below are some ideas for what seeds can be sown in March in Ireland. It is not exhaustive, as there is so much that can be sown now. There is more of a focus on varieties that need a longer growing season and will benefit from being started now.
Tomatoes
Tomato seeds can be started in March. The seeds will need heat to germinate, so starting them inside at room temperature is best. Starting tomato seeds in March will give them the benefit of the long growing season they need. They are heat loving plants that won't tolerate frost, so just make sure you don't start them too early if you expect late frosts in your area. You can see all of our Tomato seed varieties here.
Peppers
Peppers, just like tomatoes can be started in March. Pepper seed germination can be erratic if they don't get enough heat. Starting them indoors is essential. Leaving them in the warmest room in the house to germinate will help. A heated propagator or a heat mat that your seed tray sits on will also help.
Pepper plants will also benefit from a long growing season. They also won't tolerate frost, so again, be careful not to plant these too early if you get late frosts in your area.
An interesting fact about pepper plants is that they are actually perennials. If you were to take your pepper plant inside at the end of the season before frost, keep it growing inside on your window sill or under grow lights through the winter, you could put it back in the greenhouse the following year and it would continue to produce peppers!
You can see all of our Pepper seed varieties here.
Other Long Term Vegetables
If growing Pumpkins, Squash, Aubergines, Brussels Sprouts, Onions, Celery, Leeks, Purple Sprouting Broccoli are something you want to grow this year, they will benefit from being started early and been given a long growing season.
Popular Easy To Grow Vegetables
An essay could be written on all the different types of vegetables that can be sown now, but instead here are a 10 of the most popular and that are not too hard to grow compared to others. They are Peas, Spinach, Beetroot, Lettuce, Spring Onion, Calabrese Broccoli, Salad Leaves (Rocket, Mustard etc.) Carrots, and Rainbow Chard. We definitely recommend growing these in your vegetable garden this year.
You can see all of our vegetable seed varieties here.
Flowers
The list of flowers you can grow is huge, so instead of naming all of them, here are our 5 favourites.
Cosmos - A beautiful tall flower that has a lovely mix of different colours. It will bloom for you until the end of the season if you keep removing dead flower heads.
Cornflowers - There's something about the colours and structure of a cornflower that make them striking to look at. We particularly like the blue variety, but they are all beautiful, and beneficial to pollinators.
Wild Italian Sweet Pea - Different to Common Sweet Pea in that it produces only purple/pink flowers which are really beautiful. The main thing we loved about this sweet pea though was the scent of the flowers. it is hard to describe how nice it is, you will have to grow it to find out!
Lupin - Lupins produce tall spear like flowers in a variety of different colours. They are easy to grow and maintain, and the best thing about them is that they will produce for you again and again every year. A must for every flower garden
Echinacea Purpurea (Purple Coneflower) - Echinacea produces beautiful pink/purple flowers. It is also a medicinal plant. It is not as easy as the others mentioned to get started, as seed germination can be erratic if they aren't exposed to cold first. But it is well worth the effort.
You can view all of our flower seed varieties here.
Marigolds
Marigolds, particularly Calendula and French Marigold are great flowers to start at this time of year if you are growing a vegetable garden. They make great companion plants for your vegetables as their scent can deter pests. They are also great in that they will bring some nice pollinators into your vegetable garden.
Growing Indoors
If you're looking for something more instant to bridge the gap until what you're sowing now is ready, below are 2 options that will provide you with food to eat in under 2 weeks, grown inside in your own home.
Grow Microgreens
Microgreens are great to grow all year around. If you’re not familiar with what they are, they’re baby plants usually only grown for 1 to 3 weeks after their seeds have germinated. Then they are harvested and eaten. They can be grown indoors all year around on your window sill. If you haven’t done it before, growing pea shoots is very easy and also very rewarding as you will get a good harvest from them and they taste great. You can see our collection of microgreen seeds here. Or you can see in detail how pea shoot microgreens are grown here.
Sprouting
Sprouting can also be done all year round. If you're not familiar with it, sprouting seed is where you grow sprouts from seed in a jar. It is very simple to do, and all you need is seeds, a jar with a straining lid and water.
All you do is put a couple of spoonfuls of sprouting seed in a glass jar. Steep the seed for a few hours and then strain it and rinse it. After this you just keep rinsing and straining the seed each day until the sprouts are ready. Some can be ready in as little as 3 to 4 days.
They taste great and the best thing about sprouts is that they are full of all the nutrients that the seed contained to make germination happen, making them very nutritious.
Our list of sprouting seeds can be found here and if you need a sprouting jar, they can be found here.
