I can really feel the hint of spring, and if I am to be honest, along with the rising sap there a rising panic. Will I get all my winter things done before I need to switch over to spring things? I feel confident that, thanks to the help of my handy helper the garden is in a good place and this week we finished up all the restoration weeding. So, from now on it will be maintenance first and then outstanding winter projects.
Some of the winter projects are on the large side and while still looming large on the weekly ‘to do’ list, many are in their final throws and should be crossed off the list sooner rather than later. Having said that, some haven’t even been started and while I’m determined to somehow squeeze them in I think some will just have to wait until next winter, which will be a shame.
My philosophy this winter has been to chip away at all the projects each week instead of focusing on just one at a time and so while it feels a little chaotic right now, it has certainly been a productive way to spend the winter. The key is having a good blend of things that can be done of cold wet nasty days and things for those rare blue sky sunny winter days, and the rest you can manage whatever the weather.
But with spring imminent, I have begun to ask myself, what can I do now to make the spring easier? Yesterday was really windy and I was at a point with my computer gardening where I could take a small breather and I wanted to make a bit of progress in the garden, so I gathered up all my seed starting and young seedling pots and brought them into the greenhouse to give them a good wash.
I set myself up in there with a large container, some disinfectant and dragged the hose in there too. Now it was really cold yesterday, and I’m not that hardy, so I fished out the camp stove and the whistling kettle so I could wash everything in hot water, which will also help sort out the bugs. And to deal with the mind-numbing boringness of it all I popped on some gardening videos and podcasts and before I knew it I had done them all.
Well, most of them. I notice there are still a few about the place that I left abandoned where they lay after planting seedlings. So, in the spirit of being organised this season, I will get them picked up and cleaned up too before the greenhouse becomes full of seedlings. That will happen before we know it!
It was such a satisfying job to cross off the list and future me will be so grateful to have nice clean pots to use at a busy time. For the next pre-spring prep job, I noticed the first mustard cover crop is beginning to flower so that will need taking care of sooner rather than later, I doubt there will be much slowing down of chores and tasks from now on, no matter how many things I cross off the list!
Come again soon – there will always be something to do.
Sarah the Gardener : o)
We haven’t even started the winter pruning yet. Our ground is so sodden you can’t walk on it without water welling up around your feet. Note to self: mend hole in gumboot sole ASAP.
I hope it dries out soon. I certainly don’t miss the soggy soil. I had to say goodbye to my faithful old gumboots thanks to worn out holes! : o)
You know, . . . I never wash the pots, flats and cell packs that I use in my own garden. We wash what we use on the farm only because it is mostly monoculture, so most of what we grow is vulnerable to the same pathogens. In my home garden, I grow no more than a few flats of the same thing at any one time. I have never experienced a problem from lack of sanitation. Some of my cannas are virused, but sanitation will not help with that. I can only keep them separated from those that are not virused.
I wasn’t going to take any risks this season – especially after my onion seedlings had dodgy root lumps! : o)