Winter Winds

 

O thou whose face hath felt the Winter’s wind,
Whose eye has seen the snow-clouds hung in mist,
And the black elm tops ‘mong the freezing stars!
To thee the spring will be a harvest time.
O thou whose only book has been the light
Of supreme darkness, which thou feddest on
Night after night, when Phœbus was away!
To thee the spring shall be a triple morn.
O fret not after knowledge. I have none,
And yet my song comes native with the warmth.
O fret not after knowledge! I have none.
And yet the evening listens. He who saddens
At thought of idleness cannot be idle,
And he’s awake who thinks himself asleep.

– John Keats (1795-1821)

Checking In On My Babies on Valentine's Day

Here are what I call my January babies, named for the month they were sown.  By mid February, most seeds have come up.  I'll separate and transplant them into containers in a week or two. 

January Babies - Leeks, Walla Walla, Endive, Lettuce, Snap Dragon, Petunia

There's many ways to start your seeds.  For the longest time I started them in peat pellets, but now that I'm planting more, there are flats that you can use.  In January I only had a few different plants that I could start, so I used a non-divided flat and just divided it off by hand.  In February, there were so many different plants I could start, and wanting to maximize space, used a subdivided flat.  Each row holds a different kind and can hold a lot of seeds, more than the average garden can hold, so you've maximized your growing space under your lights.

February Babies - Viola, Heliotrope, Pansy, Lavender, Parsley, Tomato (Stupice, Yellow Pear, Oregon Spring), Pepper (King of North, Cubenelle), Cabbage, Cucumber (lemon, pickling), Cauliflower, Celery, Celeriac, Beet, Broccoli, Asparagus

All your seeds need is light, moisture and warmth.  To start them, when it's chilly out, use your warming pad to start the process.  Keep the light on them twenty four hours a day.  Babies like the light and are in a continuous state of vegetative growth.  Just don't let them dry out.  

Tonight I heard the first frog of the season, croaking a Valentine tune to the ladies.

Celebrate Gardening Open Day

Gardening, like boating, needs a day to celebrate the opening of the season.  I always choose President's Day, this year February 17th, because officially you can plant peas and onions outside.  The rush of spring just knocking on the garden gate.

I love chinese snow peas; the magenta flowered Carouby de Maussane pea is my favorite.  You don't have to plant too many because they are prolific producers.  The flowers are gorgeous, and to the naked eye, seductively beautiful.  In addition, this year I'm planting Knight Pea and Early Frosty Pea.

 I'll be planting a few onion starts too, although I'm leaving room for the Walla Walla's I started from seed in January. 

February Indoor Seedings

Part of the reason to keep a garden diary or in this case a blog is to keep track of what you are planting when and how they come out from seedling to harvest.  That way you can adjust and help your garden.  I moved eleven miles away; away from the Puget Sound, higher in elevation, more centered in the convergence zone and in a sunnier patch of earth, changing the timing of the garden.  All said, I know I have a better location than the one at my other house.

Today I sowed indoors:

Flowers ~ Viola, Heliotrope, Pansy, Lavender

Herbs and Vegetables ~ Parsley, Tomato (Stupice, Yellow Pear, Oregon Spring), Pepper (Cubenelle, King of the North), Cabbage, Cucumber (Lemon, Boston Pickling), Califlower, Celery, Celeriac, Beet, Broccoli and Asperagus.

The January seedlings are almost ready to be transplanted to individual containers.

House Wren by Donna Caplinger

Inspiring February

 "Rich meanings of the prophet-Spring adorn,
Unseen, this colourless sky of folded showers,
And folded winds; no blossom in the bowers;
A poet's face asleep in this grey morn.
Now in the midst of the old world forlorn
A mystic child is set in these still hours.
I keep this time, even before the flowers,
Sacred to all the young and the unborn."
-  Alice Meynell, In February

 

February Forest with Sheep By Diana Harrison

"Surely as cometh the Winter, I know
There are Spring violets under the snow."
-  R. H. Newell 

 

February Gardening Chores - Links

February ~ Celebrate Presidents Day!

Spring is coming despite the freezing mornings and chilly rain.  Get started gardening by planting peas and onions on Presidents Day, February 18th. 

Early greens can be planted also at the end of February.

Be careful overworking the soil with all the rains that saturated it.  Instead cover with a cloche to warm the soil and reduce the amount of saturation.  If the soil crumbles in your hand, it’s ready to work.

The time is right to safely divide your perennial plants that bloom between late spring and fall.