Thursday, February 22, 2018
Waxing Moon
First Quarter Moon
Celtic Tree Month of Ash
It’s been far too long since I wrote in this journal. The weather is funky — overly warm and rainy for February. I hope that, because it was so cold so early in the season last year, that it killed off the bugs. Last winter, the thaw and strange temperature fluctuations didn’t kill off enough pests, and it was an awful year for creepy crawlies.
I didn’t spend as much time perusing seed catalogs as I would have liked. But I’m figuring out what I want to plant this year — more vegetables than usual, I hope, because I want more control over my food source.
I planted snapdragons indoors on Imbolc; they barely came up and then died. I hope, when it’s warm enough, I’ll have better luck outside. I also hope it’s not an omen of how my growing season will go!
I planted some sweet peas, again indoors, a few days later, and they are going like gangbusters. This time, I soaked them for several days.
According to my calendar, today is a planting day. I have some “mystery seeds” that I saved from something — I think it’s from a pepper. I plan to plant those.
I will start the tomatoes indoors soon, and some lettuce. I have saved seeds that I saved from last year, and also from a seed-saving workshop I took, given by Edible Landscapes of Cape Cod over at the Wildlands Trust in Plymouth. I bought some seeds from them, which I will plant in the next few weeks, and I also saved some seeds on my own. So we’ll see what happens.
I have a better phone in my camera and more storage, so, hopefully, I’ll also be able to post more photos over the weeks and months.
As far as the yard goes, I have a lot of cleaning up, both from what didn’t get done in the fall, and from the winter messes. I also have to get rid of that weird cedar plant that’s acting like an invasive, and some oak that’s been acting like an invasive — along with the actual autumn olive that IS an invasive. When it gets warmer, I will hack back the roses that have gone wild over on the side of the house. They’re gorgeous, but they need to be pruned way back or they will block passage on that side of the house.
The crocuses are poking little leaves up. I didn’t plant tulips in the fall, and I think all the ones I’ve planted through the years have either worn out or been eaten by squirrels.
But I am looking forward to putting the overwintered plants out on the deck and perking things up for spring.
This season, I want to concentrate on herbs, tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplants, zucchini, maybe some peas and bush beans. Things we will actually eat. I also want to get more strawberry plants — the ones we had last year were wonderful.
Fingers crossed for a good growing season!
Gratitude and Growth: A Garden Journal 