Managing Winter Gardening Blues
Contributed by Jolene Ottosen for the Chaparral Green Thumbs
March can be a confusing month for gardeners. The weather is often mild, averaging in the single digits on either side of the freezing mark, but it can sometimes be unseasonably warm. When all the snow is melting and you can hear and smell the water running, it can be so tempting to get out in the garden, even though you know another cold front or major snowstorm could be right around the corner.
However, while it might not be time to get out the shovels, there are still garden jobs to do, that might help keep those gardening urges in check.
Planting
If you are starting seeds indoors, this is the time to start things like leeks, onions, peppers, and tomatoes. Plan on these being indoors until late May, so make sure you have a large enough designated space for them until then. Another option is to try your hand at winter sowing using milk jugs. The jug creates a bit of a greenhouse effect and many people have had success with quick crops like lettuce. I don’t know if it would be warm enough for things like tomatoes, but if they could grow successfully, an added bonus would be that you could skip the hardening off period in the spring as they are already used to the elements. However, this is not recommended if you are forgetful like me. If I do not see the jugs every day, I will forget them and even if the seeds germinate, they will die from neglect. This is advice for a better person than me!
Another option you could consider is to create a cold frame. In the past I have had great success with a hoop house over my community garden plot made of PVC hose bent over rebar stakes pounded into the ground and then covered with heavy plastic. I have also seen some beautiful boxes that use old windows for the lid, which can be propped open on warm days but left closed on cold days and at night. When I made my hoop house, I would put it up in late March and let the ground warm for about a week before planting. The choice to wait until late March had more to do with spring break than anything else, so it could probably be started earlier. And if you are wondering why I could maintain a hoop house more successfully than milk jugs, size helps. The more time and effort required to make the hoop house kept it more in mind and the larger surface area and more dirt helped to keep it from drying out too quickly. I found that two five-gallon buckets once or twice a week kept the hoop house nice and moist and able to forgive my occasional neglect.
Water Management
If things are melting, do what you can to ensure proper drainage. If you have a swale in your backyard, make sure it is clear. Also make sure the downspouts on your house are down and working properly. If there is a lot of snow piled up against a basement window, you might want to move it somewhere else, where the moisture would be more welcome.
Tool Maintenance
The end of winter is a great time to take stock of your tools and figure out what you have and what you need before you actually need it. This is also a good time to sanitize tools, soaking them for 30 minutes in a 10% bleach solution. Tools should be rinsed regularly in a solution like this, but now is a good time for anything you might have missed. Make sure to rinse tools well with water after they have soaked and dry them, so they don’t rust. Oil anything that should be oiled, sharpen anything you need to sharpen.
This is also a good time to purchase tools you will need either to replace or simply expand your collection. I am a huge fan of having a good garden knife. The long blade helps me get down deep when I am pulling weeds with a long tap root such as dandelions and can also be used to measure depth if I am planting something like bulbs. In a pinch, the blade can become a hoe to make a rut for the seeds I want to plant, or I can use the serrated side to saw open a bag of bulbs when the stitching is not cooperating or cut off a thick stalk I can’t easily break with my hands. While I have other tools, a good spade and my knife are the ones I use the most. Not quite as high on my list, but still used a lot, are my pruners and my small Japanese style hoe that has a sharp, pointed blade on it that can double as both a digging and cutting tool. If you know what you want now, you can start comparing prices and watching for sales at garden centres.
Plan and Learn
Normally March and April are full of garden events but with COVID restrictions forcing many of those online last year, there does not seem to be as many happening now. There are, however, still some great online resources available.
If you are interested in more information or curious about upcoming events, check us out at http://www.chapgreenthumbs.ca/ or email us at [email protected].
