The Dirt on Nicky

If you want to plan a garden

It’s the middle of January but not yet the middle of winter. Some gardeners choose frosty days like these to actually plan ahead for how to achieve a bountiful harvest from early May till year’s end. For others who stay in the now, planning is a bit abstract and it’s easier to wait till later and then wish they had planned ahead sooner.

Some gardeners are consummate planners because of the complexity of their aspirations. Some of us plan but are impulsive and do what we do because why not and there is a good reason for it… or not. Some home gardeners who have a small area to care for and a full-time job simply follow the advice of the know-it-all down the street. Everybody is different, but the common thread is the innate attraction of growing our own vegetables, herbs and flowers. Good for us!

Regarding planning, it’s a good idea to wait until the soil has sufficiently warmed up before transplanting summertime crops. If a gardener’s inclination is not to wait a single day beyond the final expected frost date, then prepare your space ahead of time by heaping on a healthy dose of leaves, straw and manure if you have it. Do it last week, now or soon so the soil will be protected from cold weather, plus the bottom layer of mulch will have begun adding itself to the texture of the soil.

According to Old Farmer’s Almanac, the last expected frost date around here is anywhere from March 30 in sunbelt Harrison to April 19 in the cold, cold reality of Bentonville. April 5 is supposedly the guess for Huntsville, so listen to your garden muses, choose your date, and hope for the best. Tomato seedlings transplanted into cold soil early will have no advantage in the long run over seedlings planted a couple weeks or so later.

In my garden, I am still clearing debris (never ends) from last year’s adventure so I can follow my own advice about adding extra organic matter to protect and enrich the soil. My area is windy, so recently added leaves might not be where I put them. More tidying. Sometimes the beds let me know what their plan is for this year, such lots of carrots and beets here, not there, for example, with snow peas behind them. I’m a fan of fresh peas, and I usually plant three or four varieties because nobody is gonna stop me.

I have the luxury of a greenhouse. It’s a good place to dry firewood in the winter, but soon it will be the place to prepare pots and flats. Order must be restored because, within six weeks or so, flats will be packed with pots, repurposed orange juice cartons and 12-pack beer boxes teeming with the cutest little seedlings I’ve ever seen since last year.

I supply water to the greenhouse with a long hose, so starting seedlings before the last freezing night means draining the hose occasionally before the freeze, and that is because Nature wants me to sing “Water of Love” by Dire Straits. So, do I avoid starting seedlings early? Heck no! I’m incorrigible!

Brassica seedlings (with moderate protection) can handle early spring cool weather, and tomatoes and peppers must start in the greenhouse at least a month to six weeks ahead of transplant time. I did, however, force the issue with snow peas one year only to lose the first two plantings to late frosts. Bummer. Maybe I should pay attention.

And what about seeds, you might wonder? Ordering seeds is what dreamers do in December, and because nobody is gonna stop me, I might go ahead and plant some onion seeds in a repurposed orange juice carton giving them a healthy head start on the season.

Tie-I-I-Ime is on our side, yes it is, so gardeners have the opportunity to listen to the garden, look at it like never before, get it dressed up for the spring dance, and – who knows – maybe develop a plan.