Posted on 01/16/2008 10:56:46 AM PST by Gabz
2006— January is a resting time in the garden, for us and the soil. A brief respite- a time for reflection and planning, a time for winding down from the holidays as well as a time for beginning to gear up for the coming spring. Looking back on the year just passed; can you believe the weather extremes? Copious amounts of rain, a late spring and an even later fall. Hard to believe we didn’t get a killing frost until well into December, that even in December there were still leaves on the trees. As for reflecting and thinking back, this past year, indeed the last few- have been no good for gardening. Too much rain, too many times, drowned most of our gardens. We planted and replanted, and replanted some more, for all the good it did us. Between disease in our tomatoes and not being able to teach collards to swim, anything harvested last year was a blessing.
Our ancestors knew well the fickleness of weather, tried to keep canned or dried goods and other things put up, enough for at least a three to five years’ supply in case of bad or indifferent crops. These last few years would have tried even their patience. While most of us now garden for fun or as a hobby or as exercise, their lives depended on what they managed to grow. If we, in our area were still dependant on what came out of our gardens to survive, especially in the last few growing seasons, we wouldn’t have to worry about the obesity epidemic. They had to depend on the season’s crops not only for food, but for next years’ seeds as well. If they planted and lost all their seeds, they couldn’t just run down the street and buy more.
Unlike us, they welcomed the arrival of the first weeds of spring. Often, after growing seasons like the past few, when planted greens were hard to come by, wild greens were all they could get. Take dandelions, for example. One of the first plants to green up, they are edible. Every part of the plant is edible- the greens when they are first emerging, the roots, the flowers. Bitter, yes, but chock full of vitamins and minerals. A serving of dandelion greens contains more calcium than a glass of milk. Although I never remember her making it, one of my grandmas had a recipe for so called “dandelion wine”. Made from the blooms, it was more a cure-all than an alcoholic beverage. It was used as a gargle or mouthwash, an antiseptic, a vitamin drink. Think how many millions of dollars worth of vitamins we destroy each year in our quest to eradicate dandelions! On the other hand, if all the dandelions in the world were killed except one, next year there would be just as many, turning their cheerful faces up to the sun, a delight to toddlers everywhere and an aggravation to those seeking perfect lawns.
January in our area is a good time for maintenance work. Time to prune roses and grape vines, and time to get started pruning your fruit trees. If you prune grape vines now, it’s also time to try rooting some of the cuttings. Unlike roses and fruit trees, grape vines are usually grown on their own root stock, so starting new ones from cuttings will work. Roses and fruit trees are usually grafted, which means a plant that has a good root system is used for the bottom half of the plant, and a plant that has desirable blooming or fruiting characteristics is used for the top half. By grafting, which involves cutting two plants apart and binding the root stock of one to the trunk of the other until they become one plant; we get the best of both worlds. That’s why you sometimes see a knot or curve at the base of roses and fruit trees and why it’s also important not to plant grafted things below the graft. Often, shoots will come up from below the graft. These shoots need to be pruned off. They divert vital strength from the main plant and won’t be any good anyway.
It’s a great time to keep your garden plowed or tilled. The colder weather will help kill some insect pests and weed seeds. It won’t get all of the nasties, but turning your soil over will eliminate some of them. One of the worst pests, although not as obvious as some, is the cucumber beetle. A small yellowish beetle resembling a lady bug, most often with spots, sometimes with stripes, it overwinters diseases such as bacterial wilt and squash mosaic virus in its intestinal tract. When you plant your new crop and the cucumber beetle takes a bite, it passes the diseases on to this years’ crops. This is also a great time to mow, plow, or burn the weeds close to your garden. Not only will it expose weed seeds to the elements and to hungry birds and critters, it will remove host plants for other insects that are just waiting to pounce on your fresh plants as soon as they are planted, or your seedlings as soon as they emerge.
2007—Late January is time to try an early planting of potatoes, cabbage, peas, onions, broccoli- any of the cole crops that might survive. Maybe it has finally gotten cold enough to plant bulbs. The only problem with waiting so late to plant bulbs is you don’t much feel like doing it now!
January is a time to kick back in your favorite rocker or recliner in front of the fireplace and enjoy perusing the multitudes of seed catalogs that start flooding our mailboxes this time of year. Turning the pages until they are tattered and dog-eared, drooling and deciding, plotting and planning, never losing hope that this year’s garden will be a bumper crop. Wondering if this or that new variety can possibly be as great as the seed catalog makes it sound, trying a little of the new seeds and mixing them with the tried and true favorites.
Hope you enjoy your well earned rest and here’s hoping this year will give us a much better gardening season.
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Add me to the garden ping list, and thanks!!
Yes! Please add me to your ping list. Being a political junkie, it would be a welcome change!
I’ve added you all!
Please add me to your ping list.
JJ
Done :)
Hard to think of gardening now, what with all the little white flakes of global warming falling out of the sky, but still a guy can dream...
This gal is dreaming as well!!!!
All that white global warming looks beautiful, but I am not looking forward to the condition of the roads in the morning.
P.S. -- you're now on the list ;)
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