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March in West Virginia

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March in West Virginia

layout: base.njk title: "March - WV Homesteading Calendar" description: "Homesteading tasks for March in West Virginia" category: seasonal-calendar month: 3

Theme: Awakening
Weather: Transitional, avg highs 52-58°F, lows 30-35°F
Daylight: 11h 10m → 12h 35m (lengthening by 85 minutes!)
Frost Risk: 10-15 frosts expected this month

🌿 Phenology Signs

  • Early March: Skunk cabbage, bloodroot, hepatica, winter aconite bloom
  • Mid-March: Trillium, violet, daffodils, crocus, grape hyacinth
  • Late March: Serviceberry (Amelanchier), redbud blooms, forsythia, flowering quince
  • Dandelions begin blooming
  • First robin sightings (spring migration underway)
  • Wood frog and spring peeper breeding choruses begin
  • Bears emerge from hibernation (late March)
  • Groundhogs fully active
  • First bumblebee queens emerge
  • Early butterflies appear (mourning cloak, eastern comma)
  • Red-winged blackbirds, grackles arrive mid-late March
  • Woodcocks perform courtship flights

✅ Task Checklist

Garden

  • [ ] Plant potatoes (St. Patrick's Day traditional date, March 17)
  • [ ] Direct sow peas and spinach as soon as soil is workable
  • [ ] Mid-March: Direct sow lettuce, radishes, carrots, arugula
  • [ ] Direct sow under row cover: Asian greens, mustard greens
  • [ ] Start tomato seeds indoors (mid-March for mid-May transplant)
  • [ ] Start peppers, eggplant indoors
  • [ ] Start early herbs: basil, oregano, thyme
  • [ ] Continue brassicas for succession planting
  • [ ] Divide and transplant perennials
  • [ ] Apply first round of compost to beds
  • [ ] Remove winter mulch gradually (avoid shocking plants)
  • [ ] Begin weed management in asparagus beds

Orchard

  • [ ] Complete dormant pruning before bud break
  • [ ] Apply dormant oil spray if needed (before bud swell)
  • [ ] Plant bare-root trees and shrubs
  • [ ] Mulch around established trees

Animals

  • [ ] Monitor newborn animals (spring birthing season)
  • [ ] Increase feed for nursing mothers
  • [ ] Prepare brooders for chicks
  • [ ] Check fencing for winter damage

Preservation

  • [ ] Finish maple syrup production (ends when trees bud)
  • [ ] Preserve overwintered greens
  • [ ] Use last stored root vegetables
  • [ ] Force rhubarb under cover

🌱 What to Plant

Direct Seed: - Mid-March (St. Patrick's Day): Potatoes, peas, spinach - Late March: Lettuce, radishes, carrots, arugula - Under row cover: Asian greens, mustard greens

Transplant: - Hardy brassicas (broccoli, cabbage, kale) with row cover - Divide and transplant perennial herbs

Start Indoors: - Mid-March: Tomatoes, peppers, eggplant - Early herbs: Basil, oregano, thyme - Continue brassicas for succession planting

🐛 Watch For

  • Frost forecasts - 10-15 frosts still expected, use row cover
  • Soil workability - don't work soil when too wet (compaction risk)
  • Morel mushrooms - appear when redbud blooms (late March)
  • Spring pests - monitor for early insect emergence
  • Frost protection - have row cover ready for tender transplants

📅 Key Timing

  • St. Patrick's Day (March 17): Traditional potato planting date
  • Serviceberry bloom: Soil warming to 50°F at root depth
  • Redbud bloom: Time to plant cool-season crops
  • First robin: Spring migration underway
  • Wood frog chorus: Spring has arrived
  • Morel season: Begins late March (peaks mid-April)
  • Growing season countdown: ~45 days to last frost

February ← | April →