I was going to write about the wonderful exercise I get in the garden, wonderful because I enjoy the activity, whereas working out at a gym has no appeal for me.  Then I thought of the many people who overdo it in the spring and end up with aching muscles.  This is for them.

In Maine, most gardens are planted Memorial Day weekend.  Soil is turned and raked, seeds are planted, seedlings are transplanted, fences and trellises are erected, compost is spread, compost piles are started or turned — and you might as well mow the lawn, trim hedges and prune trees while you’re at it.  Oh, the pain!

The worst part of that plan is that it sets one up for future pain or failure because when you plant, you start the clock ticking for care of your crop.  The rows should be hoed in ten days and then again ten days later.  Weeds will have to be pulled and tomatoes staked.

I’m just going to stick to a vegetable garden as the framework for my suggestion that you spread out the spring jobs.  The first date to work in the garden is not the frost-free date (Memorial Day).  Gardening can, and should begin with the first date you can work the soil.

For me that is early April, usually no later than April 15.  To determine whether or not your soil is ready to work, take a handful and squeeze it into a ball.  Hold the ball between a finger and thumb and squeeze.  If the ball breaks apart with a gentle squeeze, the soil is dry enough to work.

Soil texture and the amount of water in the soil determine when the soil is ready.  A sandy soil will dry rapidly as there are large spaces between the grains of sand through which the water can drain.  Clay, at the other end of the soil spectrum, does not allow water to drain through easily.  Most soil is between these two extremes.

In addition to the soil particles, there is, or should be, organic matter.  Organic matter in a sandy soil will hold moisture.  In a clay soil the organic matter will create space between the very small particles allowing water to move into and through the soil.

The amount of water is determined by precipitation, of course.  You don’t want to work the soil too soon after a heavy rain.  In winter in the north, the ground freezes — and in Maine the frozen ground can go as deep as four feet. This winter we had a lot of snow cover for most of the winter so the frost only went about 6 inches deep.

The frost was out of my ground by March 25 this year.  That was a very important date for me because until the frost is out of the ground, the snow melt and rain just sit there unable to percolate down.  When the frost finally thaws, it is as if you pulled the plug in the bathtub.  The water sinks and the soil begins to dry.

Now that the soil can be worked without causing it to stick together in clumps, we can prepare seedbeds and begin planting those seeds that will germinate in cold soil and produce plants that will not be killed by frost.  Peas, spinach and lettuce actually grow better in cool weather and they will germinate in cold soil.  Spinach and lettuce will germinate at 32°F, but it will take two months.

My soil is probably about 50° when I start planting.   At this temperature, peas and spinach will germinate in about two weeks and lettuce will germinate in one week.  I don’t know when dill will germinate, but I do know that it can grow from seed left on the soil in the fall, so my first planting of dill goes in the ground in April.

Cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli and kohlrabi can withstand light frost and they like to grow in cool weather.  (I transplant some of these in May to get an early crop for our restaurant, Joshua’s, but I recommend beginning gardeners plant these in summer as they grow best in the fall). Radishes, carrots, parsley and turnips will germinate in cool soil so we plant them in early May.

For the healthiest corn, it is best to wait until the soil reaches 70° so that it will germinate in 5 or 6 days.  In Maine, the best time to plant corn is in late May. The latter part of May is fine to plant beets and chard.  I transplant tomato, pepper and eggplant seedlings at this time and protect them from frost with a row cover.  It is also time for a second planting of lettuce which should be done about every three weeks.

Ah, June — or whenever you are sure there will not be another frost.  The soil temperature should be in the 70s during the day now.  Bean, squash, cucumber and melon seeds will germinate in about a week.  Basil, the most tender herb I grow, gets planted now.

I have planted a 3,000 square foot garden, turning it all by hand using this schedule.  I did it without getting sore muscles or blisters.  The first exercise is turning the soil with a spading fork.  Then the bed is raked with a garden rake.  Planting involves lots of bending — deep knee bends keeping the back straight, of course.

Ten days after that area is planted, I will be back with the hoe and drag it between the rows.  Even though I can’t see them, I know there are thousands of weeds that I am killing with my hoe when they are at their most vulnerable.  After that, there will be more deep knee bends to pull weeds that grow in the rows.  All of this is great exercise in the healthiest environment I know.

[Ed. Note: Mort Mather has been gardening organically for 35 years. He is the author of Gardening for Independence and has founded two non-profits — one saved a farm on the Maine Coast and the other saved the historic Ogunquit Playhouse.  Mort is a certified organic farmer supplying vegetables for his family-run restaurant in Wells, Maine.  To learn more, click here.]

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