Feature

By Bethany Salisbury

Early spring on a market garden is a season of overwhelming momentum. Plants are seemingly towering above you, waiting for transplant; beds are coming back into rotation, seed packets are everywhere, timelines are scribbled on half-crumpled sheets of paper and every decision feels as if it carries extra weight.

Fertility choices made in this window often feel very permanent, even though the season has barely started. When planting and financial margins are tight, and weather patterns feel unpredictable, there is a strong pull to act early and decisively, especially when inputs are expensive and time can be a coveted resource.

Early-season fertility is not about doing more. It is about doing what the soil can actually support at that moment. The most expensive fertility decisions I have made were not reckless; they were well-intentioned responses to spring pressure.

Market gardening taught me that restraint, when paired with in-field observation and timing, consistently delivers better outcomes than front-loading inputs in cold, quiet soils. Early fertility management works best when it aligns with soil function rather than strictly calendar urgency.

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