Many of us are dealing with odd weather right now. Here in southern Michigan, we have up to four inches of snow in the forecast today. This after a week of mild spring weather, including one day that teetered near 70. I've planted my cool season veggies already. If you've done the same, you might be wondering how to best protect them against a late snow like this one.

The first thing to keep in mind is that a day of snow is not likely to do much harm to your plants. The soil is already workable (or you wouldn't have planted anything) and one day of weird weather is not enough to make it freeze up again. The only real danger that comes with snow is the weight of it on your vegetable plants, especially if they're still pretty small. A light dusting won't do much harm. But an inch or two covering tiny, newly planted veggie starts could mean you'll have to replant the garden.

To eliminate this issue altogether, your best option is to cover your plants. You can use anything. Here are some ideas:

• Cardboard box (remove it as soon as possible to let your plants get the light they need)
• Plastic milk jug, juice bottle, or soda bottle with the bottom cut out
• Plastic storage bin (if it's not clear, remove it as soon as possible)
• Plastic tarp or dropcloth, held up with garden stakes or large pots

With just a little bit of protection, your early veggies will make it through a freak spring snow just fine. Good luck!

James asked, via email:

"I am starting to prepare soil in a flat to grow seedlings. I was advised that a good mix is 1/3 peat, 1/3 perlite, and 1/3 horticultural sand. Horticultural sand seems difficult to obtain except in a small 2 quart box. (And it's rather pricey.) Is there a substitute for horticultural sand? I understand the sand should have sharp edges so that it drains well."

There are a couple of ways to answer this. The first is that you could try a different seed starting mix that doesn't require you to use horticultural sand. You are already getting good drainage in the mix thanks to the perlite in the recipe. James could just swap the horticultural sand for finished compost or vermicompost and get some nutrients into this otherwise fairly inert mix while still having good drainage. My seed starting mix doesn't use horticultural sand, and it drains very well.

If you're set on using horticultural sand or something close, look for "coarse builder's sand." Note: NOT play sand or sandbox sand -- these will just turn your mix into cement. They're way too fine for our purposes. Coarse builder's sand is often found in the masonry department of most home centers, where you'd find bags of cement and things like that. It has a much larger grain than play sand -- perfect for drainage. We've used it in both seed starting mixes and potting soil here at our house, and it works great. You could also try vermiculite, but between coarse builders sand and vermiculite, I prefer the builder's sand -- less dusty and it's super cheap.

I hope this helps. I'm always happy to answer questions -- drop me a line at organicgardening.guide@about.com.

I've been a fan of companion planting for almost as long as I've been gardening. The idea of mixing herbs and flowers into my vegetable gardens to improve the flavor of my veggies and help repel pests just makes sense.

Of course, companion planting can mean many things. It can mean mixing herbs and flowers into your veggie garden, or interplanting crops to get the most from your garden. It can also mean planting vegetables together that, in some way or another, help each other grow better -- the classic "three sisters" garden (corn, squash, and beans) is an example of both interplanting to make the most of your space and using plants together that can help each other grow better. In that example, the corn provides the beans with climbing space, the beans add nitrogen to the soil (over time, anyway) and the squash shades the soil so you need to water less.

So we know that I'm a fan of companion planting. But I'm wondering about you -- do you do any companion planting? Share your favorite plant companions in the comments!

It's almost time. I can feel it, and impatient though I am, I know that it's still too early for me to sow most things in my Detroit area garden. So, for now, I'm babying my seedlings, cleaning up the garden, and topping off my raised beds with fresh composted manure.

I have said many times that I really love growing plants indoors from seeds. It gives me a way to play in the dirt, even when my garden soil is frozen solid. And I confess to running my fingers lightly across my tray of tomato seedlings, just to smell that tomato plant smell on my hands.

But not everyone gets that same joy from sowing seed indoors, and some people  just don't have the space for an indoor seed starting setup. If this sounds like you, it's still easy to grow veggies from seed. You just have to look for vegetables that you can sow directly in your garden. While technically you can sow anything right in your garden and watch it grow, certain things, like tomatoes and eggplants, do better when either sown indoors or wintersown. They need more time to produce a crop, so we give them a jump start by sowing them indoors.

If you're interested in growing a vegetable garden, but don't want to fuss with lights, plastic trays and seedling heat mats, take a look at my list of vegetables that can easily be direct sown in your garden.

What are you planning to grow this year?