Garden – what to do each month

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What to plant in March

FEBRUARY  – what to do for your garden by planting starts indoors

A healthy garden requires healthy soil. You can make healthy soil with organic materials. Have a compost pile to create soil for the following year. Rake up leaves. Get access to wood chips from deciduous trees. Ask your neighbors for animal waste from cows, horses, sheep, goats, chickens, rabbits. Layer the different materials.

Good videos to watch are:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWwhl6qQQIU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sx7LOLTlJGY

SAVE YOUR SEEDS FOR FUTURE YEARS!

One of the most important questions many have while on a path to a more self-sufficient life is how to save their seeds year to year.  Once you’ve become a pro, you’ll be spending much less time shopping and more time enjoying the simple life.

Seed saving is one of those daunting tasks that seems like it might be just a little too much trouble for what it’s worth, but just trying it once can prove otherwise.  Saving your seeds is also incredibly rewarding.w

WHAT NOT TO SAVE

It’s important to note that you should not save hybrid seeds. Save seeds only from open-pollinated or heirloom https://www.readygardens.com/jumbo-seeds/varieties, and there are a few good reasons to do this. An open pollinated plant is one in which the offspring replicates the parents. That means that its seeds will breed true to type. Modern hybrids, which are produced by crossing two or more inbred varieties to obtain specific characteristics (and common in stores), will not produce the same variety that you originally planted. If you save seeds from a hybrid, the next generation reverts to the various parents.

BEGINNING SEED SAVER INFORMATION

If you are a beginner, there a few things to also note before attempting to save your seeds. The first thing to be aware of is there are three types of plants: Annual, Biennial, and Perennial.  If you know the difference, you’ll know which seeds will be possible for you to save and which ones you won’t have to bother with. Annuals are plants that flower, set seed, and die in a single growing season, such as lettuce, tomatoes, and peppers.  Biennials, such as carrots and onions, don’t flower until their second growing season after they have gone through a cold period. Some long-lived plants, like apple trees and asparagus, are considered perennials, which means they survive and flower for many years.

The annual self-pollinating crops are the best to start with when considering saving seeds. Some of these crops, which include peas, https://www.readygardens.com/how-to-grow-the-sweetest-sweet-peas-in-your-garden/ beans, https://www.readygardens.com/want-all-the-green-beans-you-can-eat-get-the-best-harvest-with-these-growing-tips/  lettuce https://www.readygardens.com/resources/ and tomatoes, https://www.readygardens.com/10-gardening-tips-for-growing-market-worthy-tomatoes/ are a great beginning point for newer seed savers. These annual, self-pollinating crops require little to no isolation in the garden, and only a few plants are needed to reliably produce seeds for your spring planting.

The first step is to grow enough plants to produce a decent crop of seeds. https://www.seedsavers.org/how-to-save-seedsSome crops have a hard time producing seeds when too few plants are around while others can reproduce with just a single plant. If the population size of a seed crop is too small, some genetic diversity may be lost and over many generations and in time this can result in a noticeable decrease in plant stature, overall vigor, germination, and yield.

HOW TO SAVE YOUR SEEDS

For fleshy vegetables such as tomatoes, https://www.motherearthnews.com/organic-gardening/save-vegetable-seeds-backyard-zmaz77zsch squash, and melons, pick the fruits when they are fully ripe. Scoop out their seeds and spread them out to dry in a well-ventilated place. Beans and peas need to be left on the vine until the pods are dry and crackly. Corn should also be left to dry on the stalk until the kernels dent. Other types of seed may be gathered when the fruit or vegetables are fully formed, hard and “meaty.” Remember to collect seeds only from the most vigorous plants in your garden, and not just from the first few ripe specimens you happen to encounter. By selecting seeds from just the healthiest plants, you will select and create a special sub-variety of these crops that are specially adapted to your backyard’s climate and soil.

For an easy breakdown on how to determine if the fruit is ready to have the seeds harvested, click here. https://www.almanac.com/content/start-saving-those-vegetable-seeds The Almanac lists the most common varieties of crops people tend to save seeds from and how to tell if its time to harvest the seeds.

*Helpful Tip: label and store your seeds even as they are drying.  It’s easy to get confused even if you think you’ll remember which seeds belong to which plant. When laying out my seeds to dry, I use a paper towel and mark it with a ballpoint pen or permanent marker. You can use small envelopes which are easy to mark to store fewer quantities of seeds, and a jar for larger quantities once the seeds are dry.

STORAGE

Generally, your seeds should be clean and dry  https://www.almanac.com/content/how-save-vegetable-seeds-seed-saving-guide before they are put away and stored for the winter. The most important factor in keeping your seeds viable for next spring is to make sure they are stored in a cool and dry place.  If you store your seeds where the air is moist, they may sprout and/or become mildewed. Mold growth occurs at a faster rate in warm air than it does in cool air. Potato and onion seeds may be stored in open boxes or hung in mesh bags in a place where the temperature is 35 to 40 degrees Fahrenheit, and the air is not overly dry. Seeds will keep for several years if stored correctly, although some have a longer shelf life than others.

Kid Friendly Seed Saving Activity

A fun activity to try this autumn is to save some pumpkin seeds!  My children absolutely love doing this, and its a really simple and fun family activity that carries into the spring! Many of us actually begin the seed saving process without realizing it when we separate the pumpkin seeds from our kids’ Jack-O-lantern creations and roast them for a tasty treat. This year, consider setting a few of those roasting seeds aside to grow in your garden! Simply rinse off a handful of seeds and lay them out to dry for one week.  We tend to label the seeds by the children’s names because they get to select which pumpkin they would like to carve. By doing this, they know which pumpkins from last year’s selection grew successfully this year and they get the same number of seeds to each plant in the spring.

What to do in your garden each month:

Some things you can do in January by anna@thehouseandhomestead.comhttps://www.thehouseandhomestead.com/

January marks a very important time of year for homesteaders, don’t ya think?

For starters, it’s a welcome time of rest and respite from the work of the spring, summer and fall: A chance to put our feet up, relax and actually ENJOY the fruits of our labour and indulge in all of the food and goodies we worked so hard to grow and preserve last summer and fall.

(Speaking of which, are you participating in the Homestead Pantry Challenge this January? There are really no hard and fast rules and you can jump in any time, so if you haven’t started yet, you can still sign up here and learn more!)

But January is also the start of a new year; Of new hopes and dreams for the future. Of new plans and goals for the upcoming year. And perhaps most importantly, of a new gardening season.

January’s the time we begin making plans and dreaming of all the beautiful, bountiful harvest to come many months from now.

Its the time of year when the seed catalogues come out and we sit in front of the fire sipping hot chocolate and flip through their pages, circling each new and exciting plant we want to add to the garden this year.

That’s what our family was doing together last night anyway.

We went through all of the seeds that we either saved or still have leftover from last year (which is most of what we will be planting), and then we went through our seed catalogue and circled all of the seeds we either needed to replace, or new plants or varieties we wanted to try:

Walla walla onions, San Marzano tomatoes, rainbow carrots, heirloom shallots, sugar baby watermelons and cassoulet white beans…

The sheer variety and access to rare and bougie fruits and vegetables like the ones listed above is enough reason to grow your own. Try even finding most of these items in your average grocery store (or in a Whole Foods for under however much it costs to remortgage your house to buy groceries).

But that’s just one of the many, MANY benefits of growing your own food.

Here are a few more reasons to grow your own food:

#1. It’s HEALTHIER for you and your family
Homegrown organic food harvested and enjoyed or preserved at the peak of ripeness is some of the most nutrient-dense food you can serve your family.
#2. It TASTES better

There is no comparison between the flavour or a homegrown, organic vine-ripened tomato from your own backyard and a store-bought, chemically-ripened tomato, pesticide-coated tomato from a thousand miles away. The same goes for all other fruits and vegetables too.

#3. It can SAVE you money

Okay, this one’s a bit debatable, because I’ll be the first to admit, it can cost some money to grow a garden. But if you’re resourceful, able to grow a large enough amount of food on the property you have, and if you compare apples to apples and consider what you would pay for the same QUALITY of food if you had to buy it from the store, growing your own food can end up saving you lots of money in the long term.

#4. It offers some SECURITY in an increasingly uncertain world

Volatile politics, environmental nightmares, food shortages, rising prices, job insecurity… There are so many reasons why it’s just downright sensible to grow your own food, even if you can only grow a little bit. Even if only so that you KNOW how to grow food in case of an emergency. Growing/learning to grow your own food will give you some peace of mind and help you become more self-sufficient so that you’re not completely at the mercy of events you cannot control.

#5. It helps you live a more SUSTAINABLE lifestyle

Growing your own organic food helps you cut down on food waste, transportation fuel, packaging and plastic bags, and helps to ensure no harmful chemical fertilizers or herbicides and pesticides are being used to produce your food. And you don’t have to be an environmentalist to see the benefit in that.

I’m sure there’s lots more that I’m missing, but that’s just off the top of my head. And I don’t know about you, but that’s enough to convince me. Which is why I’m super excited to be getting my seed order in and starting to plan out our garden for the year.
This will be our 5th year gardening, and although it doesn’t sound like that long, it is truly incredible how far we’ve come in just a few short years.

Both Ryan (my husband) and I had zero prior gardening experience when we moved from the city five years ago. But we made it our mission to learn and turned to the Internet to help us.

One of our number one mentors ended up being my (now) good friend, the incredibly knowledgeable Melissa K. Norris of the popular Pioneering Today Podcast and blog, melissaknorris.com.

Melissa’s the one who helped me learn how to grow our entire garden from SEED, and taught me the difference between heirloom seeds, open-pollinated seeds, hybrids and GMOs.

She taught me much of what I know about companion planting and crop rotation and soil health and organic pest control; About vertical growing and using microclimates to grow a larger quantity and variety of food on our little 1/4 acre.

She also taught me about best harvesting practices, what to do with all of that homegrown food after it’s harvested (I blame her for my Mason jar addiction), as well as how to save seeds for future plantings and how to enrich the soil and put the garden to bed properly in the fall so that it’s ready for planting again in the spring.

Quite honestly, she taught me everything I needed to know about gardening in order to grow enough of certain fruits, vegetables and herbs this past summer to feed our family for an entire year!

And since I know first-hand what an amazing and helpful resource she can be, I’m super excited to tell you about her brand new gardening book, The Family Garden Planwhich comes out this Tuesday, January 7th.

I was lucky enough to receive an advance copy of the book to peruse over the holidays, and I cannot say enough good things about it for anyone who’s looking to up their gardening game this year.

Every piece of foundational information you need to know about growing a successful organic gardening can be found within its pages, from selecting seeds to saving them and everything in between.

Plus, when you pre-order, you get access to over $96 in bonuses, including charts, worksheets, eBooks, videos and more to help you learn the gardening skills that will help you grow a year’s worth of food for your and your family.

So if you’re ready to take your gardening and home food production to the next level this year, then you owe it to yourself to pre-order a copy of The Family Garden Plan and get your reading and learning in before gardening season officially begins.

DECEMBER AND JANUARY

NOVEMBER

  • What to do in the garden in November. Protect plants and structures from colder weather that is coming. Potted plan the greenhouse can be wrapped in bubble wrap.
  • Remove annuals and replace them with winter bedding such as straw or leaves.
  • Clean out bird nesting boxes. Fill birdfeeders for hungry birds.
  • Protect roses from windrock by pruning them by one-third to half their height. This will stop them swaying in strong wind and prevent roots coming loose in the soil.
  • Cut a few stems of holly with berries for making Christmas garlands before the birds eat all the berries. Stand them in a bucket of water in a sheltered spot where birds can’t take them.
  • Clean out any remaining weeds from garden and vegetable beds and add mulch.
  • Spread fresh manure across the surface of your vegetable beds to rot down over winter.
  • Check stored onions and garlic and remove any rotting bulbs immediately. The neck of the bulb is usually the first area to rot.
  • Check stored potatoes and remove any that are rotting.
  • Check fruits in storage and promptly remove any showing signs of disease or rotting.
  • Continue to clear fallen leaves off the lawn to keep it healthy. Clear leaves from any ponds you have.
  • Sweep up debris and fallen leaves from pathways around your yard. Leave fallen leaves where they are not a problem.
  • Start preparing a bonfire with twigs and prunings. If the pile is very large, burn it when the snow covers the ground to prevent dry weeds catching on fire.
  • Clean and maintain your greenhouse.
  • Give dry soil one last good watering before the ground freezes.
  • Place your orders online for fruit trees, fruit bushes and perennial plants.
  • Now is your last chance to plant tulip bulbs, daffodils or crocuses.
  • Drain any gas from lawnmowers or other machinery that uses ethanol fuel that hasn’t been stabilized.
  • Prepare outdoor water taps for the winter.
  • If you have a sunny window sill inside your house, you can sow herbs like basil, dill, parley and chives to grow during the winter months.

What can be planted in October

https://www.foodstoragemoms.com/what-to-plant-in-october/

OCTOBER

  • Sweep up fallen leaves, use them to mulch your garden to insulate plant roots for the winter
  • Plant or move trees and shrubs
  • Trim hedges so they are tidy for the winter
  • Bring in any houseplants that have been outside
  • Plant garlic, usually in the second week of October
  • Divide herbaceous perennials which flower in the spring on a dry day, plant some back in the ground
  • Divide congested clumps of rhubarb by digging and splitting into pieces and replant
  • Plant spring flowering bulbs
  • Prune climbing and rambling roses once they have finished flowering and tie in the stems.
  • Reduce the size of the plant by about a third
  • Cut back the fruited canes of summer fruiting raspberries, tie canes to support
  • Clear overhanging plants from pathways to maintain access to the garden
  • Cut back yellowing asparagus foliage to 2 inches of the ground
  • Dry and save seed
  • Harvest and dry herbs
  • Remove green tomatoes from the plants. Either ripen in a brown paper bag or lift the entire plant and hang upside down in a warm spot to ripen.
  • Finish harvesting beans and peas, leaving the roots in the soil to release nitrogen
  • Harvest winter squash before a hard freeze
  • Continue harvesting fall crops like beets, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, kale and leeks
  • Cut the lawn for the final time, cut slightly higher to protect it from winter damage
  • Recut lawn edges, aerate lawn with a garden fork
  • Repair dead patches in the lawn
  • Store away wooden garden furniture and terracotta pots
  • Check fences, sheds and gates for signs of weakness and rot
  • Insulate outdoor containers, move pots with tender plants into the greenhouse
  • Raise pots off the ground for the winter with bricks to prevent water logging
  • If your greenhouse is fairly empty, clean up to prevent pests and disease from over-
  • wintering
  • Remove any greenhouse shading to allow as much light in as possible
  • Clear away dead foliage
  • Start preparing for a bonfire with twigs and prunings
  • Clear around the base of strawberry plants to increase ventilation
  • Remove any diseased fruits from branches or the ground
  • Clear out ponds, gutters and other water places
  • Clean and sharpen gardening tools
  • Clean bird feeders
  • Wrap grease bands around the trunks of apple trees to trap winter moth females
  • If the soil is dry, give the garden one last good watering before the ground freezes
  • Use the last of the dry weather to paint sheds and fences with preservative
  • Check stored potatoes, onions and garlic and remove any that are rotting
  • Capture images of areas of the garden that need improving

SEPTEMBER

  • What to do in the garden in September: Watch for frost warnings and cover tender plants. Harvest fruits and vegetables, dry, freeze, pickle, can or store your excess harvest. Pick herbs for drying.
  • Clean-up fallen apples.
  • Pull off the foliage from your potatoes.
  • Raise squash and pumpkins off the ground to prevent rotting.
  • Cure winter squash for storing by placing in a cool spot for a month.
  • Cut bean and pea plants off at the ground when they have finished cropping.
  • Start autumn cleanup by removing any old crops that have finished and clear away weeds.
  • Weeds have slowed down their growth, catch up on the weeding.
  • Dispose of any diseased plant debris.
  • Dead head roses, perennials and annuals.
  • Some of your perennials can be divided this month.
  • Plant spring flowering bulbs such as daffodils, crocus and hyacinths.
  • Pot up mint, rosemary and parsley for fresh herbs through the winter.
  • Tidy your strawberries and pot up any runners for next year.
  • Mow long grass under fruit trees. Aerate, lime and over seed your lawn.
  • Cut back the fruited canes of your summer raspberries. Tie next year’s canes to support wires.
  • Close greenhouse vents and doors in the afternoon to trap in heat overnight. Remove shading so plants get the maximum sunlight available.
  • This is a good time to start a new lawn.
  • Plant trees and shrubs. Order bare root roses, shrubs and fruit trees.
  • Dig and store dahlias and begonias.

AUGUST

  • Collect any ripened seed and store 
  • Pinch out side shoots on tomatoes 
  • Lift and dry onions and garlic 
  • Plant strawberry runners 
  • Seed a fall crop of peas and spinach 
  • Pick herbs for fresh use or for drying 
  • Check your mulch and add more as needed 
  • Remove any diseased foliage 
  • Begin dividing perennials 
  • Plant trees, shrubs and perennials 
  • Fill bird baths regularly 
  • Prune climbing roses if they have finished flowering 
  • Start harvesting potatoes as the leaves yellow and die back 
  • Harvest fruit trees including early apples 
  • Cut back fruiting canes of summer raspberries 
  • Start watering evergreens preparing them for winter 
  • Keep things watered if the weather is hot 
  • Pull weeds before they flower and go to seed

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