The Madman Reflects On A Great Year

Reflection is good before we get down to our winter tasks. At the end of every year, we like to sit by a warm fire and talk about the things that were good and the things that were not so good. This year, the madman found so much good we almost forgot about the not so good.

Sorting through the good and not so good helps us plan for the coming gardening year. The winter is the time to put these plans in action. Remember, our gardening year starts on Halloween. We plant garlic – some to eat and a lot to deter rodents, especially around the potato bed. Usually this is pretty routine…

Move The Potato Bed

But not this year. We had to move the potato bed. Not because of the potatoes, they were happy where they were. But then the Dahlias stepped in. In retrospect, the Dahlias caused the only big problem we found in the garden. We found what we think was Crown Gall on some tubers in the large Dahlia bed. The organism that causes this gall stays in the soil for a couple of years. So, the best way to control Crown gall is to plant a non-susceptible crop like potatoes for a few years.

We decided to do a trade – potatoes for Dahlias. We moved the potato bed, and the madman says the potatoes don’t go without the garlic. Before planting the garlic, we dug up the metal fence posts that supported our Dahlia trellis netting.

On Halloween, the madman lined the bed with garlic. We thought we had plenty of time to set the fence posts in the new location. Digging the posts in would be the last of our fall projects. We still had to clean up the garden, move plants inside and get the greenhouses ready for winter. All this while packing for our post-Thanksgiving expedition (we will tell you about it in our next post). We planned to dig in the fence posts when we returned from our travels. After all, our past few winters have been pretty mild, and we thought we’d have until the solstice to finish everything outside.

A Cold Winter

But, while hiking through the mountain rainforests around the Arunel Volcano of Costa Rica, our weather back home turned cold. And then it snowed. By the time we got home, the ground was frozen underneath a layer of snow and the temperature seemed locked below freezing.

Here it is the beginning of February. The Persephone Period is over, but the ten-day forecast shows below freezing temperatures and we have 16″ of snow on the ground. Our undone tasks outside will stay undone. Digging the fence posts in, mulching the garden paths, and laying the brick path in the moon garden will have to wait until spring.

But now it is still winter – the deep, dark days and all that. We have the winter tasks to keep us busy.

Seeds And Tubers

The madman likes to order his seed potatoes and onion plants early to get the best selection. In fact, he always starts his ordering with Dixondale Farms, a neat place to visit if you’re ever in Carizo Springs, TX. No problems there – he got what he wanted.

But, as he was browsing through seed catalogs, he noticed that certain potato varieties were low in stock or already sold out. Long ago, the madman skipped seed potatoes and planted old potatoes or just the sprouted potatoes we had in the cupboard. That was before a local farmer lectured him on the errors of this practice. “Your buggy, low-yield plants are the result of not using certified seed potatoes,” he said. So, the madman has been using certified seed potatoes ever since with much better results.

A word to the wise, get your orders for these crops in early. The madman just received a notice from Fedco noting a crop failure of one variety of seed potato – they are substituting. Speaking of early – you better get going on your other seeds, too.

As we put together our seed orders, we noticed a couple of things. Prices are inching upwards – I guess that’s to be expected. But, along with rising prices, seed quantities within the packets are going down. Not a big problem, unless you are looking for exotic varieties where you might find only 10-15 seeds per packet.

Speaking of varieties, some suppliers are offering fewer varieties. The madman complains about this, but I think it’s a blessing in disguise because he can never make a decision and who besides him needs over forty varieties of peppers too hot to eat? Just remember, for the best selection of seeds, order early.

Tools

With our seed orders complete, we will turn our attention to the garden tools. Tools in good condition make for happy gardening. We like to use the winter to inspect, maintain and replace our tools. In 2019, we wrote a post on Tool Maintenance. Surprisingly, not too much has changed since then.

Our hand tools are in a large garden trug ready to go. When we finally put away the holiday decorations, we put the trug in the kitchen and started to work. Felcos and loppers first, because we are not far from pruning season and they needed to be cleaned, sharpened and oiled before then. Next came the hand tools and then the larger tools – you know, shovels, rakes and that sort of thing. By the time the snow melts, our tools will be sharp, gleaming, and ready to go.

Layout

And that leaves one more task for the winter – garden layout. We already told you about the bed exchange – Dahlias for potatoes. But more changes are coming. Our trees are growing and producing more shade so, the madman needs to rethink his planting scheme. Part of his layout is done. In fact, right now, he’s at his planting bench with graph paper and pencil in hand.

Guess I’ll bring him a cup of hot cocoa.