Never Too Early
We are 10 days past Winter Solstice in the northern hemisphere, so springtime is literally on its way! Yes, we still need to make it through January and the beastly time known as February, but I can smell the month of March on the breeze. Oh wait, it is unseasonably not frozen in New England and everything is muddy because we had had plenty of liquid, not frozen, rain this week. That is what I am smelling.
Since we are without snow cover, I took a good look around the Food It Yourself headquarters this afternoon. It is never too early to start planning the 2024 garden season. After all, the seed catalogs are already landing in my mailbox.
The raised beds in the back of the house really need some work. The wood has pretty much reached its expected life span. Mr. Food It Yourself and I picked up a large pile of synthetic decking for free last fall. Some of it will be used to re-build the beds. Maybe I will take advantage of the warmer weather and start replacing the boxes next weekend. The unseasonable warmth is expected to persist until then, at least.
As for what we will plant in the spring, I am cautiously optimistic that we can return to growing cucurbits. We have gone two seasons with no squash, pumpkins, cucumbers, or melons due to a major cucumber beetle problem in 2021. After two years of starving them off, I think some zucchini and pickling cucumbers are worth a try. I am also contemplating musk melons or honeydew melon. I will certainly find space for my typical crops: tomatoes, string beans, snow peas, carrots, sweet corn, greens and herbs. Indeed, the positive part of this weirdly warm December is that my herbs just might winter over. I might even rake some leaves over them after I re-build the boarders to give them the best chance.
My strawberries have settled in to their new beds. We will need to construct some type of anti-bird-and rabbit-system for them. I do not mind sharing some of my fruits and veggies with the local wildlife. I also want all the strawberries. (Seriously, I hold a mild resentment that I have to share them with Mr. Food It Yourself.) I am sure the interweb is full of bird baffling and rabbit repulsing ideas. There is plenty of time to build something that excludes pests but not pollinators and allows for easy harvesting. Pretty please drop your ideas in the comments.
I had planned to put bark mulch under my cherry trees after relocating the strawberries and eradicating the poison ivy beneath them. Upon reconsideration, however, I shall transplant some of the violets that are growing wild on my property and let them spread. They are pretty. They do not require mowing. They are free. They are edible! They grow so thickly in the back of the property that they exclude weeds. There is no down side that I can see. I will choose violets.
Hopefully, the normal New England winter chill will settle in. My fruit trees do need their chill hours. In 2023 our fruit salad tree was woefully lacking in blossoms, and I suspect the overall mild 2022-2023 winter had a part in that. I also want to be sure my fruit trees are dormant before I start pruning, which is necessary for optimal fruiting of all fruit trees.
If I am honest, I am always thinking about the food I can get from the Food It Yourself gardens. I take pride in maximizing out yields. The short growing season in central New England is a challenge, but one I am accustomed to facing. I am excited to plan my next growing season. The weather is our biggest potential pest in New England, but we can not avoid it. We can only plan the best we can, and adjust as reality presents itself.
What are your plans for your DIYet in 2024? Share in the comments!
