Tips from the Potting Bench

Happy Groundhog Day, Candlemas and Imbolc! These are all festivals marking the half way point between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox. That’s right, we are half way to the Spring Equinox and are in the dawn time of this New Year. It’s a time for new beginnings, a time for germination, and in many old cultures it is the start of spring. The days are growing longer and the buds on the trees are swelling; the hound’s tongue is up along with some of the first daffodils and soap root. Everything is waking up from its winter slumber.

We took a walk yesterday up the east fork of Willow Creek. All the whirly-gig-like seed pods of the maples were sprouting little tails. They were everywhere you looked and stepped, so much new life sprouting up everywhere it was hard to walk because we didn’t want to step on any of them! All I could think of was taking the little babies home and potting them up, or getting some baby chicks to raise, or a new puppy or kitten. I have the fever bad, life is starting all over again everywhere and I want little baby things to raise. Good thing we have a greenhouse full of little baby plants!

Ah, I have to slow myself down and remember that it is still only February and despite how things seem on those rare warm sunny days, winter still has a hand in things. So I’ll start my pruning and get a dormant oil spray on the fruit trees. It’s also a good time, a traditional time to prepare the garden. Clean up all the old debris, weed and spread some compost if you haven’t already. Get everything fresh and ready for the new planting season. It will soon be time to get your carrots, beets and potatoes in so plan now by preparing a space for them so you are ready to go when the weather clears in between storms.

Roots crops like good fertile soil. It should also be pretty loose down to a depth of at least 8-12 inches. If your soil is hard and compacted you may want to think about building a raised bed. I had a daikon radish one year that actually had a 90 degree angle at the tip from where it hit the hard compacted soil under the nice loose stuff on top. Next time I’ll make the bed taller!

It’s time to cut back perennial plants and get them cleaned up. Cut down dead flower stalks and clean up any dead leaves. If you haven’t divided them, now is the time. Woody herbs like rosemary, oregano, thyme and sage could all use a good pruning. I cut mine back pretty hard to refresh the growth and ensure plenty of fresh new leaves for harvesting. What do I mean by hard? Well I usually take about 2/3rds off of each branch leaving at least 8 inches to re-grow. Oregano can be sheared right back to the ground. I use a good pair of scissors for most of the work and pruning shears for the tougher branches.

If you have chickens you might want to offer them some dry dirt mixed with wood ashes so they can take a dust bath. Chickens do this to help control mites and lice which are rampant this time of year. If they are losing feathers or their feathers look pretty ragged this might do the trick.

We hope you are all enjoying the signs of spring. Flying Blue Dog Farm and Nursery will be open beginning Wednesday March 3rd. Wed-Sat 10am-4pm, Sunday 11am-3pm.