As we approach the third spring since the deadly COVID pandemic began, hoping for the end of it but weighed down by uncertainty, gardening remains a stellar way to express confidence in the future. Plant a seed, watch it grow!

Not only is it not too soon to plant vegetable seeds indoors for transplanting outside a few weeks from now, but there's no time to lose.

Cool-season crops grown from seed at home, such as lettuce, can be put outdoors as soon as March and are ready to eat a few weeks later, depending on the variety. Some seeds, however, take almost two weeks to germinate and longer to grow tall and strong enough to deal with the stress of transplantation. 

Cabbage, for example, can be grown in the garden from March to December and tolerates temperatures as low as 15 F to 20 F. It can be set out as soon as March 15, possibly a week or two earlier here on the Eastern Shore, according to the University of Maryland Extension Service.

The vegetable can be started indoors four to six weeks before mid-March, meaning you can plant cabbage seeds inside right now and you could have done it a few weeks ago.

Some readers will say it's easier to buy commercially grown seedlings to plant in the garden when the weather warms up. If you find the cost burdens your budget, cut out a glass of wine or two, a friend of mine quipped. (Most weeks I don't even drink that.)

But such plants, although convenient, are certainly grown with the help of pesticides and possibly herbicides, too. The toxicity of these chemicals accumulates in one’s body over time. Starting your own seeds from scratch, you can make sure they're grown organically, without the aid of “cides.”  

Many plants, such as Chinese cabbage, New Zealand spinach and watercress, to name just a few, cannot be found as seedlings in local stores and garden centers. In addition, when starting your own, you can look for seeds of disease-resistant cultivars, particularly if specific diseases have been a problem in your garden.

And you can choose seeds of varieties particularly adapted to our part of Maryland that won't be available in stores, possibly from local gardeners, seed saver exchanges and seed companies.

Cold-hardy vegetables – those that can take heavy frost – include kale, collards and turnips. The semi-hardy, which can take light frost, include mustard greens.

Collards, kale and turnips can be transplanted outdoors when the seedlings are three to five weeks old. However not before March 20 (possibly a week or two earlier) for turnips and April 1 (possibly mid- to late March) for collards. Kale and mustard can be seeded directly outdoors around April 1, or a little earlier. 

By the way, spinach seeds can be planted directly outdoors as soon as March 10, possibly a week or two earlier, depending on the site and weather. Peas can be planted outside as soon as mid-March, except for black-eyed peas (not until May), as can onions (seed and sets).

Asparagus and rhubarb transplants can go outdoors as soon as March 20, possibly before then.

Incidentally, it's a good idea to start pepper seeds indoors now because they take a long time to grow. But because they're warm-season crops, you won't want to transplant them into the vegetable patch until mid-May, or slightly before.

All this can seem a little complicated, so it's probably best not to do your planning after a glass or two of wine. But think how much money you can save by growing your own seedlings, possibly enough to buy at least one bottle of fairly decent wine.

If it makes you feel better, consider that parsley and coriander (cilantro), both of which give tremendous flavor to salads and other dishes (although some people don't like the flavor of coriander), can be planted anytime, year-round, indoors. Easy-peasy, as another friend of mine likes to say. I have a lovely Italian (flat leaved) parsley plant, at least three years old, that started life outdoors, then got transplanted into a terra cotta pot in my mudroom, where it recently started to produce mysteriously huge leaves (possibly a topic for a column another day).

Something very important to mention concerning cool-season crops started indoors: You must “harden off” the seedlings so they don't succumb to the cold and wind when planted outdoors. This means that once they're sturdy enough to go outside for a bit, put them out for a few hours each day, starting a week or two before you plan to plant them in the garden.

Each day, increase the amount of time they stay outdoors, but put them in a shady, protected area on warm days and bring them inside at night. Keep them indoors on windy days and/or when the temperature is below 45 F. As the days go by, water them progressively less, but not to the point where they wilt.

Once planted in the ground, protect them from the wind and sun for a few days by covering them with plastic milk bottles, flowerpots or floating row covers. If it doesn't rain enough, water them.

By the way, did you know that some plants thrive on the occasional glass of wine diluted, half and half, with water? They also love the water used to wash out a coffee pot (not with soap, only water).

So, a toast to spring! And, in the meantime, happy gardening!

Laetitia Sands is a master gardener in Dorchester County.