January in the Garden

January is traditionally the time of day dreaming and planning for gardeners young and old.  Garden catalogs begin trickling in, tantalizing us with rediscovered heirlooms as well as new and improved flowers and foods.  Slowly we work through each catalog revising the list of everything we want, until we can be satisfied with what we really need and what we really have time and space for.  But many a cold, rainy day is cheered with all the possibilities.  

If you aren’t already inundated with gardening catalogs check out this blog post from ‘The Garden Glove’ on the Top 12 Garden Seed Catalogs:   <http://www.thegardenglove.com/top-garden-seed-catalogs/ >.  It contains most of my favorites, many of which are free on request.  When you click on a catalog name you are sent to their web site.  Most seed companies feature a link to a page where you can request a free copy of their catalog right on their home page.  If you don’t have Internet service, stop by one of our local libraries. Most libraries (including ours) have public access computers available, and someone is usually available to give you a hand or help you sign up for a class or a tutor.

Planing for Peppers

Believe it or not, now is the time to plan for peppers.  Peppers do an outstanding job when our summers are hot.  However, our cool spring weather can get them off to a dismal start. They tend to be very slow growing when young; the cooler it is, the slower they grow.  A little planning ahead will help you grow the best pepper crop ever.  Peppers of all kinds can be started inside (in late January or early February) if you can provide a warm location and bright light. Peppers germinate best with soil temperatures between 75 and 80 degrees. You can get a good guestimate of indoor soil temperature by laying a room thermometer down on the surface where you will place your seeded six packs. It may take some experimenting to find the right location. You need the seeded six packs to stay warm at night, but not get over heated during the day when they are under lights. Many people resort to special heating mats made for starting seeds; others skip the seed starting step and purchase young plants ready to harden off and slip into the ground.  If you want to grow your own peppers from seed, it is a good idea to find your spot or shop for a heating mat now. Most nurseries and garden catalogs keep them in stock, especially this time of year. Shop around; prices for exactly the same set up can vary greatly.

In January our minds are on catalogs, even when thinking of peppers. If you are interested in growing organic heirloom peppers, The Seed Savers Exchange has a great catalog.  Seed Savers offers seedlings of eight different heirlooms, three of which are hot, with the rest being mild or sweet.  You can mix and match or order a sampler pack.  And they have an amazing variety, nearly 50 different kinds of peppers, available as seed. (563) 382-5900 / <www.SeedSavers.org>.  If the latest hybrids are what you want; Burpee has in a dazzling variety, many available as seedlings or seeds.  (800) 487-5530 / <www.Burpee.com>.  If you are hoping for peppers even if next summer is cool, then you should visit Territorial Seeds. They have an awesome selection of both seeds and plants that have been proven to do well in the Pacific North West. 800-626-0866 / <http://www.territorialseed.com/>. You can request a catalog on-line or by from any of these companies.

Once you get your seeds growing or your plants delivered, you will want to keep them in containers until all threat of frost has past.  They will enjoy spending warm days outside, at first in the shade.  Each day they should be exposed to more and more sun, until they are ready to stick their feet in the soil and thrive.  Don’t forget to bring them in at night if it might get down close to freezing.  Save your peppers a sunny spot in the garden and they will reward you with a bountiful harvest.

 

Fresh Produce From the Garden

Winter’s crisp cold nights have an uncanny effect on many root vegetables, turning them sweeter than if they were grown in the summer. If you planted parsnips last spring; carrots, rutabagas, or turnips this fall—you can look forward to a special treat. Get out your shovel next time we get a break from the rain and use it to carefully loosen the soil around these delectable roots.  Dig only as many as you will need for a few days; they will stay sweeter and fresher in the ground than they will in the fridge.  You can use them in most any dish that comes to mind, such as home-made soups, casseroles, stir fries, or grated into salads.  For a real treat try roasting up a batch of mixed veggies. Roasting brings out the flavors of fresh dug winter roots like nothing else can, whether you throw them in next to a pot roast or a nice fat hen; or if you just roast them up on their own. 

Here is a veggie roasting technique that doesn’t require using parchment or any other fancy supplies. You can use a metal cookie sheet or a baking pan--whatever you happen to have on hand (and is safe for use under the broiler). Scrub up your veggies and cut them into pieces about two inches long by an inch wide and a half inch thick. Brush your pan and the veggies with a thin coat of olive oil. (If you don’t have olive oil, use whatever you have on hand.)  You can sprinkle them with a little salt and pepper or other seasoning if you like. Place your veggies in a single layer on your pan, and set your oven rack so the surface of the veggies will be about five inches from the heat.  Turn the oven on to broil, and keep a close eye on the veggies.  After about five minutes, as they begin to brown, you want to move them around on the pan so they don’t stick.  Continue checking them every three to five minutes. As they develop a nice warm color, pull the pan from the oven, brush their tops with oil and flip them over.  They won’t all be ready to flip, nor will they all be ready to remove from the oven at the same time.  But every time you turn or remove some, the rest can be shifted just a bit to keep them from sticking.  If you don’t devour these delectable morsels as soon as they cool, you can serve them as a side dish; arrange them on lettuce or other greens, toss them with pasta, tuck them into a sandwich, or offer them as a finger food with a little dip.  

However you serve them, the results are elegant. And it is so easy to prepare.  It is best to stay in the kitchen while they cook, because you don’t want to let your poor roots get scorched.  You can use the time to toss a salad or set the table.  It’s fun and it’s yum!

~~~

Published by the Willapa Harbor Herald, December 4th, 2017.  Posted here with permission.

A previous version was previously published by the Hoopa People News, in 2007.

Copyright 2017,  Harvest McCampbell.  Please feel free to use the buttons below to share.  All other rights reserved.  

Starting Seeds, If At First You Don’t Succeed

Soon after relocating to my present home, last year, I discovered that attempting to direct sow anything, where it was to grow in the yard, was an exercise in futility.  The population of voracious slugs, sow bugs, and earwigs was (and is) completely in excess of my seed supply.  I resorted to starting everything in six packs on the sun porch, and taking the flats outside during the day.  Even when planting fairly large home grown starts, there was less than a 50/50 chance they would survive.  Then I discovered molasses traps, and the tide turned in my favor ever so slightly.  

In the middle of August I began starting seeds for fall, and had a full nursery flat of seedlings I was bringing in at night and carrying out during the day. It was exciting to watch them grow so healthy and strong. Then one hot afternoon when I went out to see if they needed either water or to be moved into the shade, I discovered the birds had pulled up every last seedling.  Time to try, try again.  

My subsequent attempt has been to keep the seedlings on the sun porch, but as you can see, they are leggy because they are not getting enough light.

While they are likely to survive, and possibly even thrive, I want to do better.  I started collecting all kinds of ideas on how to devise a structure to lift the flat up off the ground (to be away from the bugs) and protect it from birds.  One friend suggested covering the nursery flat with another upside down mesh nursery flat to form a bird proof lid—which I tried, but all that black plastic held too much heat and I nearly killed off my seedlings.

Here is my current experiment:

It is based, in part, on the fact that I am nearly flat broke this month, and is made almost entirely of things I had on hand, it is designed so that it can be relocated depending on the season, not so easy for insects to climb, and to discourage the birds.  

The base is four 2.5 gallon plastic pots.  I had a small selection of these, so I choose four that have drain holes in the sides—to provide hiding spots for baby lizards.  I have already watched the cute little bug-eaters run into the holes!  I may eventually need to move this ad hock structure, but before I do I will make sure the lizards have other hiding places.  They are part of my long term pest control plan!

The four pots are nested into a slight depression in the ground, which gives them some stability.  Sitting on top of the pots is a white plastic shelf which was made to be part of a modular shelving system.  The holes in the corners made for an easy place to prop the sticks that help for the awning which I hope will keep the birds out.

The bird awning structure is simply sticks, from my stick pile, and twist ties that I save from bulk grain and bean purchases.  

Twist ties also hold the awning cover in place.  It is made from an old sheer curtain I found at the second hand store for $.13—which they were happy to get for something that would otherwise have been tossed out.  It was ripped in a couple of places, one of which I mended and the other was a good length to trim the whole thing back to for my purposes.  

I set this up and kept an eye on it for a few days before planting any seeds in the six packs.  It gets sun in the morning and afternoon, and is in shade in the middle of the day.  The potting soil has stayed under 100 degrees every day.  That is still too hot for many seeds, but the weather will likely be cooling off at least a little sometime soon.  

The awning is easy to lift to peek inside. The disc in the center is the top of a short probe soil thermometer.

 

And if it doesn’t work—I will try, try again!


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