I keep hearing the “rumor” that it really is Spring, and not the tail-end of Winter, but it’s snowing outside right now, with intermittent rain and hail. NOT especially conducive to outdoor gardening (or farm chores, for that matter, LOL), but perfect weather to plan the 2024 garden, and order necessary seeds and equipment.
Wife Pat and I tried the “EarthBox” ® garden on the front deck last Summer, and found that most veggies (especially salad veggies, like tomatoes, peppers, lettuce, etc.) LOVE to grow in a container garden. Root crops (potatoes, onions, carrots, etc.) on the other hand, just know that they are being forced to live in a small box, and hate it!
Yes, we did harvest some small onions and spuds, skinny carrots, golf ball-sized beets, but overall I recommend planting the underground veggies in real dirt in the open garden, weeds and all.
Our garlic spears are up six inches out of the straw mulch, and are already dark green, while the out-of-control strawberry plants have started to leaf out – time to add some aged chicken manure and compost, or for those who use such, some balanced 10-10-10 fertilizer.
Many knowledgeable folks add Epsom Salt to their strawberry bed, starting now, and monthly until end-of-season: Epsom Salt (really magnesium sulfate) sweetens the soil, and that makes for sweeter fruit. Two tablespoons into warm water to dissolve, and spray or water-can the plants – just don’t apply the solution on a sunny, hot day, as it will burn the leaves.
Our still-cooler weather makes for great outdoor, open garden cool-weather seed starting for spinach, radishes, beets, carrots, dill, kohlrabi, turnips, etc. If you can find plant starts, the following should appreciate the cool weather, and get you off to an early beginning: Brussels sprouts, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, kale. I use the face-saving word “should” appreciate the cool weather, because we never know – I would place floating row cover (“Ree-May ®, or “Agribon” ®) over the transplants just in case of a late severe frost or meteor strike.
In the orchard, now is the time to apply dormant oil spray to smother all those evil insects hiding under the bark: aphids, mealy bugs, thrips, scale, and white flies. Be sure to follow the manufacturer’s directions, and DO NOT apply oil spray after the tree’s fuzzy leaf buds start to appear.
GARDEN CALENDAR:
Our local garden club will meet on 09 April, at 7 P.M., in Camden Grange and Community Center (located at 7 Camden Road, Elk, WA), for an evening of informative fun. We’ll have a class on how to grow food in our neighborhood, despite our challenging weather conditions, and we’ll have time to socialize, dine on club member-provided snacks, and maybe take home some gardening stuff (plant starts, seed packets, knee and back liniment) from the freebie table.
Our meetings are always open to the public, and you check out our club’s doings at our blogsite: www.elk-camdengardenkeepers.blogspot.com, or look at our Facebook page of the same name.
That’s it for now – see you out in the garden.
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