Timely Gardening Tips for where you live

Article Tools

Image Gallery

Print

E-mail

Comments

RSS

Gulf Coast

Don't let the occasional cold night slow you down — this is a busy time in the garden and orchard. Just keep the frost blankets handy and the greenhouse or cold frame in good working order. Continue to plant cool-season vegetables like lettuce, radishes and greens. Also, don't neglect the orchard — planting and pruning are major chores this time of year. Blustery, cold days make it hard to contemplate that it will soon be time to start transplants for the spring garden. Early-bird gardeners often set out the first tomatoes in mid-February, so you'll need to start seed in early to mid January. Varieties 'Dona,' 'Carmello' and `Champion' are excellent for this region. However, they're not readily available as transplants so you'll have to start your own from seed. Resolve to grow at least one heirloom tomato variety this year`Purple Calabash' and `Georgia Streak' are worth trying in Gulf Coast gardens.

Central/Midwest

Much of your winter gardening will be spent looking through windows at the sleeping garden — redesign it now with this in mind. Vertical elements in the garden — whether built or grown — can create visual interest throughout the season, but take on an extra sculptural dimension when they're covered by a blanket of snow. Although you may be relaxing and enjoying the fruits of your last harvest, seed companies already are hard at work. Now is the time to request seed catalogs, and prepare a list of what you will need so you are organized when the garden springs to life. Watch for new items for the upcoming season: All America Selections, Fleuroselect and Perennial Plant Association winners usually are worth trying. These associations have tested their winners in gardens around the world for the past few seasons; the plants they recommend should be successful in many climates.

North Central & Rockies

Freshly harvested vegetables are becoming essential ingredients in a quality modern lifestyle, and some innovative techniques now allow even mountain-dwellers and Northerners to extend the growing season into winter. Elliot Coleman's Four Season Harvest (see MOTHER'S Bookshelf, Page 94) details how to build and maintain a double cold-frame system durable enough to protect fresh greens for harvest even in December and January. Solar Gardening by Leandre Poisson and Gretchen Vogel Poisson (available through MOTHER'S Web site, http://www.motherearthnews.com ) features step-by-step instructions to build inexpensive, insulated fiberglass cold frames. These devices take us toward the glorious day when we can harvest year-round without huge expense. We fill our cold frames with cold-tolerant vegetables, which include arugula, beets, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, Chinese celery, chicory, corn salad, kale, leeks, onions, pacchoi, parsnips, peas and spinach.

RSS | Comments | E-mail | Print