Prepare Now for Spring Gardening

I realize that many of us are now or will soon be approaching the end of the gardening season.  It’s all we can do to harvest the vegetables and get them preserved for winter.  My own fingers are cracked from preserving peaches (yum!!) and too much time spent weeding and transplanting in wet gloves.  Yes, I should have taken the time to find a dry/non-leaky pair.

Seeds.  But even as we are knee deep in zucchini, now is the time to be preparing for next year’s garden.  As preppers, many of us are pretty good about saving seed for the following year’s garden, but there are always new varieties to try.  And while most stores, at least in my area, have pulled their seed collections, online ordering is still an option.  So take a few minutes to inventory your seeds, and be sure to check the date on them to make sure you’ve got relatively fresh stock. 

Manure/fertilizer.  I can’t help being a little creeped out by the rapid deterioration in the just-in-time delivery system in our country, along with everything else going on.  I’m not entirely confident that I’ll be able to buy manure at the big box stores next spring.  My husband wasn’t thrilled about the idea of storing a pallet of manure here for the next six months, but after discussing my concerns with him, he agreed that it was something we needed to do.  If I didn’t have such poor soil (it’s really hard to even call it soil), I’d store more concentrated fertilizers, natural or synthetic, whatever makes you happy.

Tools.  Make sure your tools are all in good condition, and if finances and storage space allow, consider adding some backups to your shed.  You never know, you might find yourself with some extra helpers and having the tools to do the job will make them more willing.

Seed starting supplies.  That just-in-time delivery system and increasing difficulties in getting truck drivers to transport shipments makes me think that buying tomato and pepper plants could be problematic next spring.  It might be a good idea to learn to grow your own.

Hoses.  Make sure the hoses are in good working order and that you have supplies for making repairs.  Carrying buckets every day to water the plants is hugely time-consuming.  If you are in a drought-prone area, be prepared to plant your seeds much further apart to allow them more space to grow and to let them take full advantage of whatever rain falls.

Gloves.  Our skin is the largest organ of the body and our barrier to all kinds of infection.   Make sure there are plenty of good gardening gloves for everybody.  And since most of them are coming from China, make sure to have several pairs available as backup.  The importance of good gardening gloves cannot be overemphasized.

However, don’t just make this a matter of buying stuff for next year.  Now’s a great time to begin preparing the soil for next year’s planting.

Start that compost pile!  The garden waste, leaves, grass clippings, etc., can spend the next several months decomposing and then improve the fertility of the soil next year.

Start some new garden areas.  Remove the weeds and rocks now and amend the soil with compost and fertilizer.  You’ll be that much further ahead in the spring.

Figure out now how to protect your crops from vermin, insects, rabbits, skunks, raccoons, and my favorite, the @#$% deer.  (My daughter Becky was installing a sprinkler system with a nine-year-old boy from the Sunday School class that I teach.  He asked her if she swore.  She said no.  He asked if I swore.  “No.”  Truth be told, those deer might change me if the motion-activated sprinkler that is supposed to arrive tomorrow doesn’t work.)

Take pictures of this year’s garden so that you know what was planted where and can rotate crops better. I always tell myself I will remember this information.  I almost never do.

Do some reading.  Research new ideas.  One thing I tried this year was planting nasturtiums around the broccoli and cabbage to repel cabbage moths.  The nasturtiums didn’t grow all that well—the broccoli and cabbage grew much more quickly and shaded them, so I figured the practice didn’t pay off.  But you know what?  I didn’t have any worms this year.  There were quite a few of the cabbage moths flying around, but no worms, no eggs.  So I guess that was a win. 

Many stores are clearing out their gardening supplies now and you might find some great deals if you do a little digging and time things right.  With all the craziness going on, it’s only prudent to prepare now.  We can’t just depend on tools, supplies, seeds, and plants being available next year. 

 09.02.21