Weeding between the lines

By Jim McGinty

 

Just looking out the window at all the snow and icecrete (yes, it’s a new word, and totally descriptive for what is underlying those 14 inches of crusty snow!), it’s hard to imagine that a few months from now, we will be seeing brown dirt and green growing things.

This is a good time to snuggle up to the heater with all your notes from last year’s garden (you DID write down what you learned from your 2021 gardening experience, right!?), and this year’s seed catalogs, and plan your best ever garden for 2022.

Think about what you want to grow and eat this year:  more specialty gardens (salsa, salad, grains, etc.), or maybe something new and unique (TONS of new tomatoes and peppers this year!), or maybe the old standards that you rely on for comfort food (potatoes, sweet corn, garlic).  

Think about what grew well last year, and what was worth harvesting, and eating:  mouth-watering vine-fresh tomatoes, crunchy sweet corn, baked potatoes with all the fixin’s (I always wanted to use that word in print, LOL).  

Think about what did not grow well in your micro-climate, or what produced lots of leaves (and promises), and produced only shattered dreams.  Maybe this is the year you learn to eat what will grow in your garden, and maybe this is the year you finally realize that your garden is NOT going to produce those big, 100-day beefsteak tomatoes, due to a shortness of sunny, warm days.  That’s okay – you’ll just have to grow some of those 70-day, medium-sized tomatoes, and slice them thin and stack them tall on your hamburger bun!

So, check out those gloriously-illustrated seed catalogs (with the understanding that those photos have all been “processed” to look good, and make you want to buy those seeds), and select something that will inspire you to look forward to fertilizing, planting, watering, weeding, and all those other garden tasks that will make your brief summer worthwhile.  Remember please, that seed shortages are already showing up in the aforementioned catalogs, so order early!

Even with snow on the ground, now is a great time to sprinkle woodstove ashes around the drip line of your fruit trees and berry bushes – those guys love (!) potash (potassium ash), and will reward you with more,  and higher quality fruit.

If you have not already bought or made the dormant spray for your orchard, now is a good time to investigate and purchase or make that insect/scale smothering goodness – though it’s still too early to spray.

This is also a good time to pull out the pruning tools, and de-rust, sharpen, and oil them ahead of use:  pruning and limb-training time is almost here, and besides, the manual labor involved in readying your equipment is good for your mind and hands.  

If you start your own plant starts from seeds, now is the time to bring inside and warm up the seed-starting soil, equipment, tools, and the seeds themselves, and get ready for the show!  Pretty quick, it will be time to start the Brussels sprouts, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflowers, and other spring cold-weather hardy plants.

I have seen desperate gardeners covering their raised beds with black plastic film, in hopes of an early, sunny start to the season, while other folks lay heat cables, normally used to combat roof ice buildup, onto the snow and ice. Desperate times, desperate measures, LOL.

 

GARDENING CALENDAR:

On the 8^th of March, our local gardening club will meet for the first time this year, from 7 P.M. to about 9 P.M., in Camden Grange and Community Center (7 Camden Road, Elk, WA  99009).

We’ll commiserate over the 2021 gardening adventure, and expand on our newly-gained horticultural knowledge (gains and losses from last year’s garden).  We will learn all about veggie seed starting in a short (30-45 minute) class conducted by our own Marlene, complete with handouts, and lots of time for questions and (hopefully!) answers.  

You can check out the club’s doings by looking at our blogsite (www.elk-camdengardenkeepers.blogspot.com, or at our Facebook page of the same name.

On the 26^th of March, I will be teaching a fruit tree pruning class at the aforementioned Camden Grange and Community Center, from 1-3 P.M.

We will talk about what you can do to encourage healthy tree growth, improved fruit production, and what to do about those pesky pests and dread diseases.  Cost for the class is $5, and a handout is provided, along with an opportunity to watch a sacrificial (but willing!) tree be pruned and trained in an appropriate manner.

That’s it for the month of March – stay warm, stay flexible, and enjoy your “time off from spring chores.”