MARCH
Your guide to romanticizing the month of March with recipes, crafts, homestead projects, & resources to help you achieve your goals
Hi! I am so happy you are here, and honored you’ve subscribed to my monthly Substack. Welcome to the month of March. When I think of March of course I think of Spring. But also, freshness, subtle glows, the soft thawing of everything. The March rain is so bright and promising, and it is such an exciting month!
Housekeeping info for new readers:
Each month is separated into sections so you can skip over something if you wish, or easily refer back to it. Please also feel free to use the Substack feature “chat” where you can ask questions related to each monthly newsletter, & I can answer right away! Or if it is a more in-depth question, reach me at stayathomesteadmomsubscribers@gmail.com <3
I hope you’ll find joy in these monthly guides & they help inspire you to romanticize and find magic in each season. Most importantly, thank you for being here & supporting my page and little family.
Just wanted to mention, anything I post or link here, I have tried or bought with my own money. No one is ever paying me to say these things, or link any products. And if they did- I would never link something if I didn’t truly love it. K that’s all, enjoy!
Table of Contents:
HOMESTEADING
MEALS, MEAL PLANNING & STOCKING YOUR PANTRY
CRAFTING (CHILDREN & ADULTS)
HOLIDAYS
HOMESCHOOL
MOTHERHOOD/FAMILY
START HERE:
1. HOMESTEADING:
March is all about preparation—getting the soil and seeds ready, tidying up from the winter, and welcoming the first gentle stirrings of spring.
The exact tasks will vary depending on your climate and whether or not you’re a “year-round” gardener or not, but this is what I’m focusing on this month. I’m in garden zone 6A, use this tool to help figure out what zone you are in if you are unsure, this is vital in determining when to start your seedlings :)
As always, your subscription includes one-on-one correspondence with me to help walk you through any of this so please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have questions!
Seed Starting Indoors
Begin seeds for cool-weather crops like lettuce, spinach, peas, kale, and onions.
In many regions, March is also when you start seeds for warm-weather vegetables and flowers (tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants, etc. etc.) indoors, so they’ll be ready to transplant when temperatures rise enough- again will depend on your garden zone and last frost date
I use a mixture of seed starting trays indoors by our sunny windows, as well as a method called “winter sowing”- I’ll put a tutorial for that here if you are interested: winter sowing tutorial
Soil Preparation
As soon as the ground is workable (not too wet or frozen), start preparing garden beds by turning the soil carefully, mix in compost/manure, and testing the PH if I feel like it caused an issue last year
Repair raised beds or build new ones- we want to add one more bed into our garden and have some repairs to do on the edges of a lot of the others
Fruit Tree & Shrub Pruning
Late winter or very early spring (before buds bloom) is an ideal time to prune most trees, berry bushes, and ornamental shrubs- if you are unsure about how to prune a specific plant let me know and I can help you out!
Livestock Care & Building Maintenance
Inspect fences, gates, and shelters for winter damage; make any necessary repairs. We like to do this asap before the weather gets too wet and rainy in the end of March/early April
Clean out stalls or coops thoroughly to reduce the risk of mold and parasites- we do our DEEP clean of the chicken coop where everything gets taken out and scrubbed down
Adding new chicks to the flock & starting to hatch some new babies
Greenhouse & Cold Frame Prep
If you have a greenhouse or cold frame, get it ready for early spring seedlings, give it a good clean and reset
Keep an eye on temperatures—open vents on warm days to prevent overheating and close them on cold nights.
Start hardening off cold-hardy seedlings to move outdoors later
Garden Tool Clean-Up & Maintenance
Sharpen pruning shears, hoes, and shovels.
Oil wooden handles to keep them from drying out and cracking- I just use avocado oil!
Service and clean machinery like lawn mowers or tillers before peak spring use.
Plan & Organize
Finalize your garden layout, deciding which crops will go where.
Make a schedule for sowing, transplanting, and harvesting- READ the back of your seed packets! They have so much info and tell you exactly what you need to do
Order any last-minute seeds or supplies you need.
Where to get seeds?
You may or may not have heard of popular websites such as “Johnny’s Seeds” to order your seeds from. I like to think of this as a trend. There are great seed options available there, and unless you are chasing some type of unicorn variety of seed, you probably don’t need to be panicking and ordering super early because most things won’t sell out. Their seeds are also pretty expensive. I typically only use them for things that I cannot find anywhere else.
I like to get my seeds from local farm & feed stores, home improvement stores, Walmart, even the dollar store! Don’t sleep on the dollar store especially for things like flower seeds!
The things I really look for when purchasing seeds are:
-Freshness, make sure you’re not buying last year’s seeds
-Organic/Non-GMO- this is really important to me
-That it will grow well in my climate/zone
Having gardened for years now, I also have begun saving my own seeds from my plants which obviously helps save on cost of purchasing new, but also will help your plants survive in your garden as they basically “learn” how to perform best year after year through adaptation to their environment. If you want to learn more about this, this is a great article: Saving Seeds: The Benefits and Beyond
How to Start Seeds Indoors:
If you are new to gardening, seed starting can be a crucial step to ensuring the success of your garden. And I promise, it does not have to be complicated, although some people choose to complicate it!
For years, I used Tupperware containers, plastic wrap, and windowsills and got thriving gardens each time. You don’t need fancy/expensive equipment.
The most economical way will be with a soil blocker (can find on amazon), which essentially creates little seed starting pods for you to plant your seeds in.
Each year, I like to plant more than my garden will allow because once grown into a mature seedling, we like to sell at our farmstand! Organically grown plant starts are hard to come by, and we sell them for $5 each.
I do not use grow lights typically, just a sunny window!
2. MEALS, MEAL PLANNING & STOCKING YOUR PANTRY:
Here are the recipes I am planning on making this month some I have tried before & some are new to me too! All of my personal recipes can always be found on my website as well, and any new recipe or recipe that is not my own, I’ll always provide the link for here!
Download & print out a special weekly meal planner here
Here is a sample weekly meal plan for you based on what I typically do-
Monday: Crockpot Beef Stew (I like to start Mondays with a crockpot meal), here is a really basic recipe to get you started & I like to add things based on what we have! Beef Stew Recipe
Tuesday: Air fryer salmon with parmesan asparagus & rice pilaf (I throw some maple syrup and mustard on top of salmon fillets and cook in the air fryer for about 15 minutes. Steam some asparagus, then top with shredded parmesan, lemon zest and a fried egg if I’m feeling extra)
Wednesday: Tuscan Chicken Pasta
Thursday: Quick Gyro Bowls
Friday: Family Homemade Pizza Night (homemade crust recipe) (homemade GF crust)
Saturday: Chicken Larb
Sunday: Breakfast for dinner- protein waffles, bacon & sausage, cheesy scrambled eggs <3 my favorite waffle recipe EVER
Of course, cannot forget Corned Beef & Cabbage, which I actually absolutely LOVE as a meal, so typically when I start seeing corned beefs in the store, I’ll grab a few so I can freeze some and eat this more than once! I’ll link a recipe here if you are unfamiliar, it is so simple and honestly my favorite part of March lol.
Corned Beef and Cabbage Recipe!
(this is basically what I do, only I use maple syrup instead of granulated sugar!)
Make sure to look for corned beefs with no added nitrates, colors or preservatives
Some of you have been asking what we typically do for breakfast & lunches as well, for the most part I keep it extremely simple.
Breakfasts we rotate between scrambled eggs with chicken sausage, chia pudding cups, yogurt parfaits, protein waffles, oatmeals, “fancy toasts” (basically sourdough with different protein toppings such as nut butters & banana).
Lunches I’ll usually have something meal prepped for myself such as tuna, avocado, or egg salad. Or I’ll put some smoked turkey onto a salad with a hard boiled egg.
For Vienna it is often macaroni & cheese with veggies, grilled cheese with turkey, pesto pasta, etc. I find this website very helpful for ideas too, especially if your children are on the pickier side Yummy Toddler Food
Pantry Restock for Kid’s Snacks:
(as always check my website for pantry essentials recipes such as homemade mayo, butter, etc.!)
Maple Vanilla Pudding- from my website! I’ll typically just use maple syrup
Healthy Shamrock Shake - I’ll make this for Vienna around St. Patricks day! & use a bit of spinach to make it green
I like to stock the fridge with hard boiled eggs, a few fresh fruit options, organic cheese sticks, and homemade granola bars for Vienna.