Reporter Molly Hudson visited Indian Creek Nursery, where neighbors were choosing their spring garden favorites. With the beautiful weather, she asked what you should be doing in your garden right now and what you should postpone.
It is a sign of spring and warmer weather.
“Strawberries. “People are planting a lot of strawberries right now,” said Amy Mefford, assistant manager of Indian Creek Nursery. “Onions, bok choy, Swiss chard—all of these I am okay with people putting in now because they are a cool crop.”
While it was warm on Sunday, it is still April in Nebraska.
“We still might get snow. Our last frost date is technically… you know, we always tell people to plant after Mother’s Day,” Mefford explained.
Mefford says the most common mistake she sees at this time of year is planting tomatoes and peppers too early. The ground simply is not warm enough yet.
“Once it is consistently above 50 at night, on a consistent basis, not just for a week, and then we see we are going to dip down into the thirties again,” according to her suggestion. “They are happy being in the greenhouses here until the ground is warm enough for them to go in, and then they are just going to explode for you.”
Lindsey Condray, a South Omaha neighbor, went garden shopping on Sunday, as did many others.
“Right now, even though it is 80 degrees outside, I am gathering supplies for the vegetable garden and cold-weather crops. So mostly collard greens and lettuces, as well as some other starters that will be kept in a greenhouse until the weather warms up,” Condray explained.
But, while we wait for warmer temperatures to stick around, Mefford says it is not too early to prepare the area where you want to plant.
“Prepping the ground is the main thing,” she told me. “Making sure your soil is good, adding a soil conditioner, compost.”
And if you are just starting out, Mefford recommends focusing on one or two things you know you want to grow and will use.