February in the Garden
Mid-February is here and I find myself unprepared. I spent most of January shivering while preparing a family vacation to celebrate my grandmother’s 100th birthday. The last few days have been spent trying to decode the mysteries of starting a blog; not an easy task.
The first sign of sunshine and I find my garden woefully lacking. Lacking order and overrun with the remnants of winter. Dead branches and leaves cover what I hope to be a great summer garden plot.
The area I have to garden in is not ideal. Too small and too shady. I have had success with root vegetables. (Carrots and potatoes like it fine. Beets love it!), but most other desirable veggies are more challenging.
A few years ago, I tried mini keyhole garden beds. I keep a wire composting area in the center and add kitchen waste directly. I still have to keep the balance between wet and dry waste, but I find that this method works well. So well, in fact, that it is hard to keep it full. We have tons of earthworms working hard to turn the waste into gardening gold.
I rotated the chickens onto all of the beds during the fall and winter so they could fertilize and take care of undesirable insects. Who says non-laying hens are worthless? Those ladies pull their weight around here.
The soil is really healthy. It smells great and is not your average Houston clay gumbo. It is really naturally composted and lovely.
One of the mistakes that I made last year was planting too little. So this year my goal is to supplement our family needs by planting more of what worked last year:
- Beans
- Broccoli
- Celery
- Cucumber plants
- Eggplants
- Lettuce- one whole bed
- Potatoes in buckets or bags
- Spinach with lettuce
- Swiss chard
- Peppers
- Tomatoes
- Zucchini
- Amaranth
- Peas
- Strawberries
- Basil
- Rosemary
- Sage
- Okra
February:
Broccoli, Swiss Chard, Lettuce, Onions, Potatoes, Turnip, Radishes, and Spinach.
