Yes, I know it is -33 degrees below zero with wind chill today here in central Minnesota. Well, what a great day to be inside and begin my planning for the spring garden and evaluate what worked and didn't work last year.....and do my taxes :)
Time to bring out my seeds and what I have left over from last year. I do find parsnips however they need to be purchased new every year to assure a good crop. I look for my spinach as soon I will be able to plant in my raised bed outside my dining room deck...as they enjoy the cold weather and DO NOT grow well in heat. As I browse through the seeds, I also look for my lettuces and greens as they will be one of the first things I plant as cool weather plants. I may start some greens in containers. Containers best for greens are short in height as they have more shallow roots and do best in shallow containers. So, I'll be looking through my containers when the days warm up a bit.
I also have one half of my garden (30 feet by 60 feet) that I plan to sow early spring cover crops to enrich the soil for nutrients and then lightly till in before late spring plantings. Last year I did this in this area and was so busy that I didn't get to the tilling into the soil in time. They got pretty tall and couldn't really till them in as well so I lost the benefit. This year I am going to make sure my son is available to till them in when the plants are about six inches tall. It is a beautiful sight to see the vibrant green of the plants as they grow. They can add so much great nitrogen and organic material to the soil.
When planting in this area after the tilling I do need to make sure that what I plant prefers more nitrogen. Some plants like cauliflower prefer less nitrogen. Last year I had beautiful cauliflower plants as far as leaves but not a head formed. Will be researching this for this year. It could be that I had too much organic material as I do use straw around the plants and till it in in the fall; or the variety that I used. This also happened to another master gardener friends so to begin with I will be using a different variety of cauliflower this year.
So, I encourage you at this time to:
1. Check what seeds you have on hand.
2. Order seeds that you will need.
3. Consider growing something new in the area of vegetables this year.
4. If you have a lot of garden space, consider planting an early spring cover crop or "green manure" as these are called at times.
5. Read your garden diary from last year and evaluate what worked and what didn't work.
6. Start creating your garden on paper. Draw your garden in relationship to width and length. Include all your smaller or sometimes smaller garden areas (I have a number of smaller areas outside of my larger garden spaces).
7. Start deciding where you will plant what in your garden and at what times of the season: cool weather plants; warm weather plants ; placement based on full sun, partial sun, partial shade, shade tolerance. Consider succession planting. www.johnyseeds.com is a an excellent site that provides gardening information on vegetables, herbs and much more. Great interactive tools that tell you best time to plant what; times for succession planting; diseases and more. I personally love this site and they do carry organic seeds and plants along with the conventional.
8. And also important is creating your budget for this 2015 growing season.
9. Start dreaming of how your garden may look using differing gardening approaches such as : soil gardening; container gardening; vertical and raised garden beds; straw bale gardening or other creative approaches. And where you might place differing approaches. This can be fun.
This is just a taste to get your "gardening juices" flowing. I always maintain that gardening is scientific, creative and intuitive. Have fun evaluating, dreaming and creating....even when it is -33 degrees outside.
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