Yes, it’s tempting to plant summer plants right now! The sun is out. The air is warm. But ask my mom or anyone who grew up in the country when to plant for summer, and they’ll tell you Good Friday. This wisdom is based on generations of observation - March 15 is our area’s average last frost date. Since that’s an average, we could have the last frost day today or at the end of the month.

Why does planting after March 15 or Good Friday matter? Tomatoes, squash, eggplant and peppers are very sensitive to cold. They’ll either die if we get a frost or just sit in the ground not growing if the soil is cold. Even though the air is warm, the soil might not be, and summer plants need warm soil and warm air.

But, yes, you should get outside in the garden this weekend. Here are things you can do to get ready for summer which will be here before we know it:

1-Take a soil sample and send it in for a Routine Soil Analysis. You’ll have results by email within a week of sending it in, you’ll learn a lot about what nutrients are available for your garden - and you’ll save money on fertilizer.

2-Sit in the garden and draw your garden plan. Dream of what you will plant and where you will put it.

3-Check out the Planting Guide for Home Gardening in Alabama to learn what to plant when.

4-Add compost to your garden.

5-Plant cool-tolerant vegetables that you can harvest in just over a month like salad mix (sometimes called mesclun mix), arugula or small radishes. Flowers like nasturtiums and calendula also like the cooler weather.

We’ll have tomatoes, eggplant and pepper plants available the first week in April. Let us know how your garden grows!

Hang in there! Summer is coming. (Photo: red, orange and green peppers of different shapes and sizes.)

Whoa, there, gardener!