The Edible Garden in January

The beginning of the new year is a great time to begin thinking about the new gardening year. While we rest physically from the effort of last season, we can think about how to change and improve on our practices both environmentally and to increase gardening success, while hopefully reducing effort. Here are some ideas that can help move us in that direction.

Making Plans

• Most gardeners know about the advisability of keeping a journal, but I suspect most of us are pretty careless about it. Keeping an accurate journal is a great new year’s resolution. Key elements include:
  • A garden sketch that can be used to identify specific crop locations, through spring, summer and fall plantings. Use the information to plan crop rotation to reduce pest and disease issues.
  • Organizing companion planting and intercropping practices to build soil health and helping reduce weed incursions.
  • Note the dates when specific diseases and pests arrive and/or depart on which plants, to let you know when to take action to manage damage.

• • When investigating seed or plant purchases, look for varieties that resist the problem diseases and pests. A good resource for identifying pests and ways to combat them is the Penn State Extension publication Vegetable Integrated Pest Management With an Emphasis on Biocontrol.
  • Put together a timetable for seed starting, transplanting and converting from one crop to another, starting with cool weather vegetables in spring through cover crop planting in the fall. Find guidance on when to plant and harvest popular vegetable crops in the Virginia Cooperative Extension (VCE) publication Virginia’s Home Garden Vegetable Planting Guide.

Not to make too big a deal out of it, but a well-managed journal can really contribute to gardening success. Think about taking the plunge.

• The new seed catalogs are out now, both online and hard copy. It is worth reviewing a few different providers to compare selection and prices while deciding what to plant in your precious garden space. Look for seed and plant varieties with good pest resistance. Maybe choose to grow something you’ve never grown before, which is a good learning experience, if not plain old fun. Review The Garden Shed article Using Seed Packet Information to Help the Garden Grow for help interpreting pest and disease resistance information.

• If you are thinking of adding small fruits to the garden, review the VCE publication Small Fruit in the Home Garden for helpful advice.

• Do some reading about best gardening practices. Study Integrated Pest Management (IPM) as a way to reduce chemical use. Learn about regenerative gardening practices that focus on naturally building healthy soils as the basis for healthy, nutritious crops. Review ways to add pollinator habitat to your landscape to create a healthy insect population and use beneficial insects to help keep pests under control (it really works). If you are looking for some reference books to advance your horticultural education, check out The Garden Shed article Books Every Gardener Should Have. Learning new skills over the winter and putting them into practice in the coming season is a great way to become a better gardener.

Hands-on Tasks

•  While decomposition slows down as temperatures drop below 50 degrees F, it is a good idea to collect materials over the winter to start new compost batches in the spring. Stock your pile or compost bin with leaves, preferably chopped. If you need more “brown” (carbon-rich) materials for your batch, save newspapers, boxes and household paper not contaminated with plastic tape and coatings and cleaning fluids, tear them up and add them in. Add kitchen fruit and vegetable scraps to the bottom of the pile during the winter and rotate the pile every once in a while. In the spring, when green materials like grass clippings are available, add them in to get to a volume ratio of about twice as many browns as greens, moisten everything so it is wet but not dripping, rotate it once or twice a week and you’ll have beautiful compost in time for planting summer vegetables in May. For detailed advice on home composting, review The Garden Shed article Backyard Composting with Practical Tips from the Pros.

• If you want to begin starting seedlings indoors this winter now is the time to acquire equipment and plan the process. Check out The Garden Shed article Starting Seeds Indoors for detailed guidance from an experienced Master Gardener.
• If you have older seeds that may have outlived their viability, it makes sense to test their germination rate. The Garden Shed article Good Seeds, Bad Seeds explains how to test seeds prior to planting.

• Winter is a good time to clean and sharpen garden and cutting tools. Scrub them, rinse them in a 10% bleach solution and wipe dry. Oil cutting tools to protect their edges and maintain free movement. If you have a warm enough place to do it, wash and disinfect pots and planters the same way. It is great to reach spring with tools and pots ready to go.
• If you end up with a stack of plastic pots that you don’t need, recycle them. Some local nurseries will take them for their own or community reuse. Lowes has a chain-wide recycling program. Let’s keep plastic out of landfills!

• A key to minimum chemical gardening is to create the most diverse eco-system you can in your yard and garden. Feeding the birds in winter is a good way to keep these helpful predators around for when they are needed. Get some tips on good bird feeder practice in The Garden Shed article Creating a Bird Friendly Garden.
• If you have a natural Christmas tree, please recycle it. Albemarle County has a recycling program with multiple drop off sites. They convert the trees to mulch that is offered free to residents.
• If you burn wood in your fireplace, and compost or add the ashes to the garden, remember that ashes are alkaline. It can be used as an amendment but will raise the soil pH if added in quantity. Not all plants can tolerate alkaline soils. Ornamentals including lilac, weigela, pinks and mock orange as well as vegetables including spinach, beets, corn and cabbage are exceptions. For more info, check The Garden Shed article Wood Ashes.
• If you really want to grow something, create an indoor herb garden. The Garden Shed article Be Inspired With Indoor Herb Gardening tells you how.
• Aphids, spider mites, whiteflies, and other pests are winter houseplant nemeses. To minimize pest damage, keep new plants separate from plants moved indoors, remove dead/damaged foliage and check plants regularly using a magnifier to watch for pests. Washing with soapy water and placing sticky-card fly traps around plants can help too. Detailed advice is found on the U of Minnesota Extension publication Managing Insects on Indoor Plants.

Sources:

“Plants Grown in Containers: Indoor Containers – Houseplants,” N.C. State Ext.