Most of the state was blessed with some nice rain this last week, and that, combined with our mild temperatures, has many of us starting to think about spring. It is too early to plant most spring crops but it is a great time to prepare the soil for planting, to create new flower beds and to plan our spring gardening activities. Although it is best to wait until mid February to plant most of the cool season and leafy vegetables, you can start planting seed potatoes, onion sets and onion plants right now. Visit your local nursery or garden center to select the potato and onion varieties that are suited for your area and to get detailed planting instructions if you are new to the veggie gardening experience.
This is a very good time to take soil tests and prepare your soil for spring. Good soil is the best foundation for gardening success. You can get your soil tested for a very reasonable price at your OSU County Extension Office. Dig several holes 6” deep in the area you want to test, and collect about a pint of soil from those area holes to be tested. You may want to take separate tests in your front lawn, a front flowerbed and a backyard vegetable garden. These tests will allow you to target your fertilizer activities and avoid over applying or wasting your fertilizer. You often will save more than the cost of the soil tests by being able to select the right fertilizer and applying just the right amounts when you get ready to fertilize. This is a good practice for the environment and your pocketbook.
This is an excellent season to remove all the dead plant tops from last year’s annuals and to spade, till or work the soil in your flowerbeds as you prepare for spring. It is a great time to mark and dig new flowerbeds while removing all the old grassroots. Whether a new flowerbed or preparing an existing bed, you may add and mix more sphagnum peat moss, composted bark, composted cotton burr hulls or other organic matter to improve your flowerbeds.
This is the season when gardeners can get overwhelmed with seed company catalogs, internet mailers and links, garden shows and other material to get us longing for spring. It is fun to look through these materials, the pretty pictures, the fun catalog copy and to identify some new plants, seeds or bulbs, you want to try in your yard this season. I encourage you to study these resources and then visit your local nursery or garden center to try and buy these new items locally when possible. Sometimes there will be plants that just aren’t available locally that you may need to access over the internet or through a catalog. Locally grown plants will usually adapt better and your local nurseryman can often recommend even better varieties or share gardening tips that will increase your chances of gardening success.
Rodd's Seeds of Wisdom 