Spring arriving at equinox

Written by

Charles Dowding

Last Updated

March 16, 2025

Warmth (relative to winter!) will be noticeable for many of us through the second half of March. What an opportunity to sow and transplant many vegetables.

I feel excited.

Also because my New Energies book is soon to publish. It describes simple and cheap ways to increase growth, such as the five stick method to raise soil warmth during sunshine. That's a result of an energy field you can create, making land more responsive to sun energy. I have practiced it here since 2013.

Drawing by Emma van Zeller, is in the book.

Seedlings one month old, in my CD small-cell module trays — Seedlings mostly one month old, in my CD small-cell module trays

Potting mix

I use 20 to 50% of my own compost, much of which comes from the wormery, as in the photo below.

If you don't have home-made compost to use, I recommend Urban Wyrm multipurpose peat free. I have found it good and I'm receiving fine feedback from gardeners using it.

Lifegrowsonandon, YouTube
I've had 4 of 50L urban Wyrm compost and it's the best for seedlings I've found, will be my go to from now on, thanks for the recomendation!

From my wormery, worm casts sieved to 10mm or 1/4 inch, for the potting mix

Sowings outside

From mid March you can make outdoor sowings direct in the soil. Such as peas, broad beans, carrots, parsnips, onion, spring onions, lettuce, spinach, radish, turnip, coriander, dill, coriander and parsley. Any cover of fleece will speed germination. My Seed Collections are a way to choose best sowings for each month.

Early potatoes can go in (see my Guide), but there is no rush, especially if your last frost date is in May. Here, it's 15th May and my main potato planting is 10th April, and late March for first earlies. At the moment the seed potatoes are chitting (sprouting) on a windowsill.

Potato spacing across a bed of 1.5 m / 5 ft is just four seed potatoes

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Sow under cover from mid-March

All vegetables and herbs I list above, for outdoor sowing, can still be sown under cover. Except for carrots and parsnips whose tap roots break when transplanted.

New sowings in protected spaces include tomatoes as soon as you can, if not already. Aubergine, pepper and chilli are still possible. Mine are in the middle of the hotbed!

Find sowing dates until year's end in my 2025 Calendar, now reduced in price with 80% of dates still relevant. Also in my No Dig book, which we sell on offer with Compost.

See my Seeds and Seedlings video.

A horse manure hotbed provides warmth for new sowings and seedlings — Extra warmth for new sowings and seedlings, also tomatoes, aubergine and peppers. My hotbed is recently topped-up with fresh horse manure keeping it above 40°C/104°F

Start no dig

I'm told that I make growing look too easy. Well, it is easy once you have got your plot set up in no dig.

That's why we have created a new course for beginners. With lots about growing too, described as though you never grew anything yet!

The essential essentials, eight lessons with videos you won't see elsewhere, hundreds of photos with captions.

Start no dig, how to remove bramble stems quickly — What, digging?! I explain why and how to remove woody stems like this bramble, before first mulch-covers. Everything else stays in the ground because there is NO NEED to remove perennial weeds before commencing.

Plant outside

Options for transplanting in the second half of March are cold hardy vegetables, herbs and flowers including sweet peas. Most vegetables will be at a 3 to 4 week old stage from date of sowing:

All of radish, turnips, onion, spring onion, spinach, lettuce, cabbage, calabrese, cauliflower, kohlrabi, fennel, pea, broad, bean, and any herbs you may have sown. See my recent garden tour for more context.
See my Garden Planner for how to organise your plantings

New plantings mid-March of kohlrabi, spinach, spring onions and fennel

A cover of fleece on wires, after planting

The view two days later, -4.6 C / 24 F on 16th March, but less cold weather is coming now

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Another way to hold a cover above most seedlings, only needed if frost is serious, 2.4m 8ft roof battens and multisown radish, plus a few direct sown at this end. all now under fleece / row cover

Winter composting…

is a slow process.

In December, this heap was often 50°C/120°F and that's become the black part at bottom.

After Christmas, we added fewer new goodies, green materials in particular. Temperatures have not exceeded 30°C 86°F because of that.

Never mind, we stop filling very soon and leave it two months, then turn it once into an empty bay and it will be beautiful compost by autumn.

Now it's time to start new heaps.

Compost heap profile, 1st December at bottom to mid-March top. Planks unscrewed to see progress.

I feel encouraged

I had a visit last week from @farmacyfarm in East Sussex. A project started by Camila al-Fayed, working to grow healthy soil, plants and people.

When the visit was arranged, I never expected to meet such interesting friends and helpers. Turns out they have followed me for a while, and I find it hugely reassuring when people of fame and fortune are drawn to the soil and healthy growing.

I was with Stella McCartney, Camilla and Mary McCartney

To finish,a surprise

There are commonly accepted sayings in gardening, which need explaining.

Such as that you cannot grow plants in fresh manure - and I advise this. I would never put plants or seeds into fresh chicken manure, even the less 'hot' (nitrogenous) cow manure,

Yet look at the growth of these broad / fava beans. Their roots are in five day old horse poo. It's a test for pyralid weedkiller (see video) and the plant is telling me, all is fine!