One garden at a time
Worms do not contaminate their environment. Bugs are bugs, and you can’t blame them for being bugs though sometimes they are not good neighbors. Some plants are naturally aggressive and invasive, but not as much as oil companies and rapacious politicians.
Do squash bugs police themselves? Seems like they multiply, gorge themselves on squash plant parts until all that remains is juiceless fiber in a shape gone limp, which brings to mind certain politicians and what they have wrought on the environment. We have one environment. It has earned our respect. Some people pester politicians about these matters, and that’s a good thing, and then they go sit in their gardens.
Even in winter, a garden feels alive. It knows spring is just over a month away, and undone duties are everywhere. PSA: If you have not stratified seeds that need it, now is toward the end of optimum time period for this season.
Connecting with seasons is how gardeners operate. The last half of winter generally has spells of tolerable weather which means discovering how things look after the snow, and how did that rabbit get in here? A rabbit scrambled out of the asparagus bed, ran toward the bottom of the garden, then, with my encouragement, along the fence toward the top, right past the gate, then, with my encouragement, back to the gate and gone. Then I looked around the garden.
Windy storms rearranged the leaves recently placed on beds as mulch. Plenty leaves are scattered around, easy to find, so a gardener puts them back on the bare spots. Leaves insulate soil and protect it by moderating soil temperature in support of the environmental actions of worms and their neighbors.
Mix in different kinds of leaves if you have them. Pine straw is acidic at first but moderates over time and improves soil friability. White oak leaves, which break down very slowly, are easier to use when crumbled or shredded. Dried sassafras leaves crumble easily and they’re red. Last year’s oregano you haven’t used yet is an excellent scented soil amendment. Mulching a bed like you mean it is as gratifying as collecting kindling.
The week before Valentine’s Day is perfect for tending to trellises and fences. In about a month, trellis space will be called upon for snow peas– one of the first vegetables to plant. Creating trellises with garden twine is the closest I’ve come to knitting. Also, trellises are an opportunity for bamboo, sassafras, oak and hickory to stand side-by-side for a common cause: snow peas for me.
Snow peas like soil more alkaline than acidic with plenty potassium and phosphorus. Bone meal and fish meal provide those elements and more, but they also might attract whatever digs up things in my garden (rabbits!). Kelp meal instead, maybe, plus it reminds me of the Salmon Creek beach by the ocean.
It’s also time to move the rest of last year’s leftovers to your compost or leaf mulch pile, mend your fence if it needs it, spend a few moments with the beautyberry bushes, gaze in awe at the seed pods of a senna plant and wonder how it got here, harvest large mullein leaves for dehydration, and… oh yeah, did you order seeds yet?
A reliable last frost date might be during the second week of April, and that’s a guess. Plants transplanted too early have no advantage in the long haul over ones transplanted when the soil is warmer. To make sure you get things done on time, buy a calendar. They’re cheap now. Mark on there the expected week of the last frost and count backward for when to start tomato and pepper seeds. Also mark on every other Tuesday, “Plant a few radishes.”
Regarding worms and elections, I look forward to voting for a candidate on the Oregano Party ticket who creates compost with worm castings, advocates for hemp farming, and (just like Tom Petty) won’t back down when garden duty calls.