By Jennifer Fairfield, owner of Garden Mill
So, it looks like we might finally get a real snowstorm here in Southeast Michigan over the next couple of days. While we’re all getting ready for the big snow they’re promising, there is something to keep in mind: Feb.2 marks the halfway point between the winter solstice and the spring equinox.
With winter halfway over, it’s time to start really planning for our gardens. If you haven’t already, it’s time to go through your seeds to see what you have leftover and what you will need for the upcoming season. All of seed suppliers are running behind in getting seeds to us this year, but we are hoping to start getting them in by the end of next week, and will have them available on our website.
To Do Indoors This Month:
First things first – put together a plan for your gardens this year. If you are planning a vegetable garden, what do you want to grow? Do you have a garden already, and just need to decide what to plant where this year, or are you just starting out and need to figure out where to put your garden and how much space you will need for everything you want to plant?
Planting flowers? You’ll need to know what kind of sun and soil the flowers you want to plant need (or better yet, what flowers you can plant in the sun and soil you have).
If you need help in making decisions, there are so many apps out there now that can help. Some do a great job of giving you ideas by showing you lots of pictures of what others have done. Other apps provide more in-depth information about locating and plotting out the actual design of your garden. Some apps will even let you take pictures of your current landscape and see how certain plants will look in your yard.
Spend some time now to decide what you want to do, so that when it’s time to do it, you are prepared to look for the seeds, plants, soils, fertilizers, tools, and structures you’ll need.
Did you keep a journal of your gardening last year? If so, go through your notes now so that you know what plants did well for you, what didn’t do so well, and what changes you thought you might want to make this year. Like planning, this will help you decide what you need to make your gardening successful this year.
If you didn’t keep a journal last year, start one now for this year, and start writing down all the things you want to do. Whether you keep a digital journal or an “old fashioned” paper one, a garden journal can be incredibly helpful when you are making plans each season – mine helps me remember what the weather was like, and how my plants reacted to it; what kind of watering different plants needed under different conditions; which varieties of plants did better; and what I used that helped with disease and pest control.
As I mentioned, now is the time to go through seeds leftover from last year – many of them will still be perfectly fine for planting this year. Once you’ve figured out what you have, determine what you need and go get it. If you wait too long, you may not get the varieties you want – it looks like the issues we’ve all been experiencing with finding just about anything will also still be impacting the seed industry this year, so the early bird will get the seeds.
If you are going to start plants indoors this year, make sure you have everything you need – seed starting mix, pots, working lights, heating mats, etc. If you’re not sure what you might need, or how and when to start plants indoors, the University of Minnesota Extension Service offers lots of details here.
March is generally when the majority of vegetables grown around here get started indoors, but you should start rosemary, onions, and leeks in early February and celery in mid-February.
Starting perennial flowers indoors this month also gives them more time to get to transplanting size and makes them more likely to bloom the first year. It’s also a great way to save money, as seeds and soil generally cost a lot less than perennial plants.
February is also the time to start some annual flowers indoors, if you’re growing your own. Pansies and geraniums get started early this month, while impatiens, lobelia, and stock should be started mid-month.
Be sure to clean out any previously used pots you want to use for repotting of house plants or for outdoor container gardening. Disinfecting your pots before using them again ensures that they are not harboring any harmful bacteria. Do this task now so your pots will be ready to use when you’re ready for them.
Use a 1 to 9 ratio of bleach to water and a wire brush to be sure to get all the leftover dirt, and then thoroughly rinse the pots to get rid of the bleach.
Clean and sharpen your tools, if you didn’t in the fall, so that they are ready to get to work when you are. Get some good tips on cleaning and sharpening from this article by Fine Gardening Magazine.
(Part 2 of this column will run tomorrow.)
