Spring Dreaming, Winter Planning

It's amazing how the warm sunshine through a winter window or a simple spike in the outdoor temperature for a day can set our gears in motion. I can't say it's been a particularly bad winter here---the frigid temps have been annoying but the usual snow/sleet/ice hasn't fallen---and yet, I'm already hearing rumbles of cabin and/or spring fever. At my volunteer job yesterday, I had more than one inquiry about starting indoor vegetable seeds. I too am so eagerly looking forward to that day. January's almost gone, February is leap, soon it will be the first of March and time to drag the grow lights out of the basement (I don't have a greenhouse and our dining room faces the east but its our largest window and best source of natural light and the grow lamps supplement) and set up the dining room greenhouse.

Until we can get outside and head down the garden path (thus the reason for today's picture), there are a few activities I do about this time of year to help beat the winter blues. In a nutshell, I start planning. Once spring arrives, I like to have a solid idea of what, where, when, and how I'm going to execute all my necessary tasks. For instance:

Vegetable Garden Layout

This is huge for me!!! Now more than ever, food pantries across this country are in crisis. Not only do I need to think about how much food my household is going to need but then I need to consider what I want to grow for the food pantry, when I want the first harvest to start, and where should I plant seedlings for maximum output.

1) Drawing up a tentative layout is essential.
a) I like to consult companion planting charts, which I'll talk about in a separate posting as we get closer to spring. There's a ton of information on companion planting on the web and it's worth sorting through and reading.
b) I rotate my tomatoes so they are the first plants I establish on my layout.
c) Once I have the tomatoes on the layout, I can work on row arrangements.

I can actually spend a number of hours on this activity alone.

Hanging baskets, urns, and planter design

I was extremely pleased with my floral arrangements in my hanging baskets, urns, and planters last season because I went to the nursery with a list of the materials and/or plants that I needed. I can get to the nursery and get terribly side tracked by how they've planted their containers, end up buying things I don't plan for and quite frankly, buy things I don't really want or need. It saves me not only time but a lot of money.

Soaker hose layout

Last fall I walked into Lowe's garden department and found 75 ft soaker hoses on sale for $1 each. I bought 40 of them. I definitely want a plan on how I'm going to string them through the garden beds for maximum coverage. They've been wound tightly in coils, so I'll need to stretch them out and let them lay in the sun for a few days to get the kinks out.

Collecting and Gathering

I saw a neat idea on the web wherein paper egg cartons were collected and then used as starter pots for seedlings. Innovative. I have started saving my plastic milk cartons which I use to protect my tomato seedling that first week out in the garden. It's a great time to begin buying seeds from catalogs. I even start stock piling fertilizer for my hanging baskets.

Pruning

One outdoor activity that is perfect for this time of year when the temps spike briefly is pruning. I love to inspect my trees and prune them while they are dormant. That activity also takes me past shrubs and rose bushes to inspect for winter damage.

Hopefully, spring will come early and April will be kinder than the two previous years. NO LATE FROSTS, please! And we'll be ready for it, armed with our best laid plans.