Ask Burton: Q: When should I plant my tomatoes?

A: As early as you feel like you can get away with it, starting now.

Generally, tomatoes start going into my garden around the first week of March. This is early. It involves some risk! Our average last freeze in our area is around March the 17th. It can still freeze cold enough to snap tomatoes after that date, which is why an early gardener keeps frost cloth, extra mulch and compost, and empty paint buckets around to protect young seedlings from a cold night. I pretty much obsess over the forecast for the next month.

With care, you can usually succeed with an early crop of tomatoes. The benefits? You’ll steal an additional three to four weeks of productive time for your tomatoes to bear. Tomatoes set fruit best when temperatures are between 50- and 90-degrees Fahrenheit. By planting early, your tomato plants are ahead of the curve. Our summers are brutal to tomato plants, so this helps! Traditionally, people recommend Easter for planting spring crop tomatoes, which is a maddeningly variable date to pick because it doesn’t always fall in the same month. The first day of Spring isn’t a bad date for the conservative gardener. At that point, check the seven-day forecast, and make your judgement call.

The best rule of thumb is to plant tomatoes when you feel confident in doing so, but it’s also fun to be adventurous. I tend to risk it, and most years, get away with it. Sometimes Mother Nature gives me a hard, “NO!” Then I replant, with a few choice words.

But fresh, homegrown tomatoes taste great. And early tomatoes make me happy!