Alice Rankin’s Garden Spot

re: Master gardener Alice Rankin’s online column appears Tuesday morning here at HBO. Also, Alice will be available off and on throughout the day to answer your specific gardening questions in the comments section of this thread.

Resist the temptation to rush out and plant ALL your garden right now. With the temperature in the 70’s yesterday, and expected to be 80 degrees today - the urge will be strong. Remember we are waiting for a constant 50 to 55 degree temperature at night, to plant our summer garden. Usually, the first week in June. You still have work enough to do to prepare your soil, and plant your cool season, early garden - both seeds and plants - plus hunt for spoiled hay for mulch. (See last week’s column). It is a good time to concentrate on your raspberry patch. Plant your raspberry starts, or transplant runners, ASAP. Maybe, throw a handful of coarse bone meal (with pieces of bone) in each planting hole. Bone meal is my absolute favorite organic fertilizer. “Coarse”, for long term plantings, and “steamed” (like flour) for annual plants like tomatoes — Alice Rankin.