Every spring each of us must decide when to plant our tender annual plants. I am of the conservative branch of the gardening family. I do not want to take a chance damaging – or killing – my tomatoes, peppers, cukes, or annual flowers if a late frost comes along. I know gardeners who are planting everything now – and they might be smarter than me. But I doubt they will get tomatoes before me. Plants going into cold soil don’t really do much growing.

Whether you buy your plants from a nursery or start them yourself from seed, all plants need to be hardened off before being planted. That means introducing them to sunshine and breezes a little at a time so that they don’t get sun or wind burned. Ask at the garden center if their plants have been well hardened off when you buy them.

I have a deck on the north side of my house that gets about 3 hours of morning sun each day, so it is the perfect place to start hardening off seedlings. After 3 days on the deck, I move the trays of seedlings to the west side, where they get afternoon sun but are a bit sheltered from drying winds. After three days there, they are ready to be planted, weather permitting.

I like to plant in the early evening. Robins are singing complex melodies, and the sun’s heat has diminished. Most importantly, plants have 12 hours or so to settle into the soil, absorb some water, and get ready to grow before the sun comes up and bakes them. I also like to plant when cloudy or drizzly weather is forecast, but that isn’t always possible.

Here are some of the things I am planting now, or have planted. Peas went in first, after 2 hours soaking in a dish of water. This allows the seeds to absorb water quickly, encouraging them to start growing sooner than if I just put them in the ground. I planted Sugar Snap peas, which are edible pod peas. I find shelling peas tedious, and like the fact that you get more food if you can eat the shells.

Peas (and beans) are legumes which means that they can take nitrogen from the air and “fix” it into a form useable by plants – but only with the help of nitrogen fixing bacteria. Your soil may have these rhizobial bacteria, or it might not. Without them, the plants cannot fix nitrogen. So you may want to buy a packet of the bacteria, which comes in a powder form. After soaking the peas, drain the water and sprinkle inoculant over the seeds before planting.

Generally the packet of inoculant contains more than you need; it will not be good next year, so share your extra with a friend. I suppose you can mix in water and spread it on the soil around your peas if you have already planted your peas without it. Beans, by the way, are warm weather plants that should not be planted until after risk of frost. If you plant them in cold, wet soil they may rot, too.

Carrots, beets, radishes and rutabagas are good crops to plant now. I planted mine on Mother’s Day, as it was a root day, according to Stella Natura, the biodynamic calendar I consult when planting (www.stellanatura.com). It uses the moon and stars to guide when we should plant.

Beets confused me until I learned that the “seeds” we buy are not seeds at all, but dried seed capsules. Like an apple, each capsule contains multiple seeds. So you can space them perfectly, and still have to thin them later. Johnny’s Selected Seeds ( www.johnnyseeds.com) does sell one variety called ‘Moneta’ that only has one seed per capsule – but it often sells out early.

Thinning plants that I start from seed is one of my least favorite activities. It takes time and precision, and it is killing little plant babies! So when planting things like carrots or rutabagas I try to take time to space seeds an inch apart, though I haven’t yet perfected that trick. Patience is not my long suit. By the 4th of July, carrots and beets should be at least an inch apart, and eventually, 2 to 3 inches apart. If crowded, carrots will compete with other carrots just the way weeds compete with carrots.

I have also planted onions, which I do as small plants, not sets. My grandfather always planted sets, which are really just stunted onions that grew last year. Growers plant them so close together that they are dwarfed – and you should plant them like big seeds.

This year I planted my onions by seed indoors in early March, and raised them under lights for 2 months before hardening them off and putting them in the garden. I planted them and inch and a half deep, and 2 to 3 inches apart. Some seed companies will sell onion plants in bundles of 50 for those wanting seedlings – I have gotten them from Johnny’s Selected Seeds in the past. Starting from seed is nice because you have more choice about the variety you plant.

I hope to plant kale, broccoli and Brussels sprouts this week – all are quite frost hardy. If I plant cauliflower,

I will wait to plant it in June. Cauliflower is the fussbudget of the brassica (cabbage) family. It will “button” or fail to produce a full-sized head if it is stressed by weather that is too hot or too cold, too wet or too dry. The others? Rock solid. In the fall most of the brassicas will continue producing until Thanksgiving or later.

This is a joyous season for me. Planting seeds is magical. Imagine planting a speck, and getting a carrot later this summer. I love it!

HENRY HOMEYER can be reached at PO Box 364, Cornish Flat, NH 03746. Please include a self-addressed, stamped envelope if you wish a response to a question. Or e-mail Henry at [email protected].