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We've passed a few milestones this winter – Groundhog Day
and the Super Bowl – which should give all of us affected by cabin fever a few
reasons to look past the gray and dreary days.
Although “Punk-sutawney Phil” has forecast six more weeks of winter, at
least the end is in sight.
I confess I’m not a great gardener, but I believe people
should know where their food comes from, and the processes that are involved in
growing it. Now is the time to start
planning ahead for the gardening season: A few avid gardener friends are
eagerly awaiting their seed catalogs in the mail box, reviewing their companion
planting layouts, and will soon start their seedlings. At Pathfinder, we'll start planning our new
hoop house that we received a 5-2-1-0 grant for, so that we can extend the
growing season.
The hoop house will be a great addition to our
horticultural tradition at the Village.
We've had greenhouses at Pathfinder since the early 1980s; the donor of
the first greenhouse, Mrs. Burlingham, was an environmentalist and believed
that working in the soil and tending living things was empowering and offered a
way for residents to connect with nature.
Our new Button Greenhouse, named in honor of local farmer Leslie Button
by his family, continues that tradition.
A hoop house can be made using different materials, like
rebar or pvc piping, and they don't have to be large to boost garden
production. Heavy duty plastic sheeting
is available at home centers or your corner hardware store, like Hoyt’s here in
Edmeston. There are many links online to
review if you're interested, and basic plans are available at http://westsidegardener.com/howto/hoophouse.html
or http://www.diynetwork.com/how-to/how-to-build-a-hoop-house/index.html. Make sure you can raise the sides of the
plastic later on to prevent the hoop house from getting too hot.
Of course, there are other methods to starting your
plants earlier and less-expensively.
Many websites suggest “winter sowing,” using gallon plastic milk
containers as mini greenhouses. This
sounds like a great project to try with kids or grandkids: Cut off the bottoms of the milk jugs at about
3” high, and use the base as a starter tray.
Poke holes in the bottom for drainage, fill with potting soil, and plant
a few seeds in each container. Replace
the top of the jug (with its cap) over the bottom, and use some duct tape to
secure the halves together.
Plant hardier crops like peas, Brussels sprouts, and
broccoli in mid-February, wait for March or April for veggies that are more
temperature-sensitive. Place the jugs
outside, and as the sun warms the soil, your seeds will germinate. Make sure you label the jugs with a permanent
marker for easier identification. On
warmer days, remove the caps to prevent burning the plants. If the plants sprout and you're concerned
about a hard freeze, just cover the jugs with old blankets.
A good guide to this method is at http://www.getbusygardening.com/2010/02/winter-sowing-seeds.html. Once the weather gets nice and there are no
more threats of frost, carefully transplant your young plants into your garden
space, raised beds, or larger pots if you're doing a patio or container garden.
Of course, the real work in gardening is fighting weeds …
I confess I usually lose the battle against noxious plants. I ran across this piece, http://www.bhg.com/gardening/pests/insects-diseases-weeds/winning-the-weed-war/,
and hope that some these practices will help with our garden this year. If anyone has some non-chemical methods that
have proven successful, please feel free to share!
Until next time, be well!
Lori
