Coaching for February

Your winter crops are gone by now, right? RIGHT. 

Because YAY spring is ON.

But what are you doing about it? 

Are you tending to an early spring vegetable crop, testing and amending the rest of your garden's soil for forthcoming warm season crops and gathering all of your know-how and materials to get those sun-loving vegetables planted by the end of April?

If you had to avert your eyes from that last question - we understand. Prepping your garden for the big awesome warm weather growing season can be daunting. It feels like there's so much to do and know and do some more to make sure that it's all in place to have a successful growing season.

The good news is that it doesn't have to be scary. It doesn't have to be overwhelming. It can be rewarding and delicious with just a bit of preparation and planning. 

So planning, then...

Warm Season Garden prep

Test your soil You can send your soil off to a lab to be tested or you can do it yourself at home with a kit that tests pH (soil's acidity levels), N (nitrogen), P (phosphorus) and K (potassium). While you won't get the micronutrient levels in the home test kit that you would from a lab, it will give you enough information to amend your soil's macronutrients (N, P and K are the three majors) to your specific crop's heart's desire. And isn't that what you want? Desirable crops? Knew it. Amend your soil Once you've tested your soil and found that there are a few nutrients that it needs, you can organically amend it by adding in bone meal for phosphorus,dried blood meal for nitrogen and a mix of organic materials for potassium for any deficiencies. It's also a good idea to add a layer of organic amendment (We like Gardner & Bloome's Harvest Supreme.) at a rate if about 1 2 cu ft bag per 25 sq ft. Clear weeds This is crucial. Weeds around your garden are basically just houses for pests. Aphids, white flies, slugs, snails and all kinds of nasties take up residence within chewing distance of your garden in weed stands of any size. So pull those weeds or, if you're not into hand pulling weeds, arm yourself with a scuffle hoe (also called a Hula-Ho, Flex Ho and HO knows what else. Joke. That was a joke.) and go to town on those weeds in minutes flat. Check/fix your irrigation systems Before you get all ready to plunk plants into your garden's soil, make sure that the life giving water source is working properly. Remove filters from dripline manifold heads, flush the systems, clean the filters, check emitters for clogging, clear any clogs and replace any emitters that are beyond redemption.  Once everything's working properly, set up the driplines and emitters in your garden and set your irrigation program accordingly. Then test it without any plants in the ground and on dry soil. This way you can see the wetting pattern of the driplines and make sure that they're even. Replace any lines that are beyond redemption. If you water by hand, make sure that your hose head is still in good condition, tighten connections between hose bibs and hoses and check your hose for any cracks or unmanageable kinks.  If you're handwatering by can, rinse that baby out and put it near the water source so that you'll be sure to water at the first sign of dryness. Find all your structures If you're going to use any structures in your garden; tomato cages, bean trellis, cucumber trellis, cans to prop up melons and pumpkins, re bar to stake pepper plants, etc; go find them all, clean them up and make sure they're ready to rock. Gather your seeds and plants It's spring. Do you know where your plants and seeds are? If not, now's the time to source them. For reals.  Our favorite organic seed sources are Johnny's Selected Seeds, Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds, Seed Savers Exchange, LocalHarvest.org and High Mowing Seeds. Some amazing plant sales are coming to a farm, park and college near you: 3/28-5/31: Love Apple Farms' Tomato Plant Sale in Scotts Valley 4/11: Santa Clara Master Gardener's Plant Sale at San Jose's History Park 5/8-5/10: Cabrillo College's Annual Spring Plant sale at Cabrillo College's Horticulture Center & Botanic Gardens Stock up on fertilizers/compost, row covers, organic pesticides Before you get everything planned and planted and growing, stock up on the things that you'll need to keep your garden happy once it's in the ground. Bags of finished compost near the garden (or your own finished compost), row covers to put over new squash plants to keep pests away and some Safer's Soap in case pests take up residence are good things to have on hand so you're not scrambling to find it when you need it. Or, worse yet, forgoing it altogether because "Pffffffffft. Who has the time?" Yeah, we've all said it, but don't let this be you. Not this year. This year's garden is going to be magnificent. And productive.  Now, what about those cool season crops? Early Spring Greens Now: Those greens planted just a few tiny weeks ago when they were few and tiny are now, surprisingly, bushing out and making their way into the menu rotation. Next: You probably have a few weeks left before they succumb to the warm weather (anything over 70 degrees toughens them up and they start to flower). To do: Harvest and enjoy your greens at their taste and production peak! With temps consistently in the high 60s, they'll do well as long as they get consistent moisture, so check the soil to make sure it doesn't dry out.  The old school moisture test (good for heat sensitive plants with shallow root systems, like lettuce): Gently press your fingers to the soil's surface. If soil comes back on your fingers, there's plenty of moisture. If no soil comes back on your fingers, it's time to water. Peas Now: They're taking to their trellis and climbing a little bit higher every warm day.  Next: They'll keep climbing ever higher and, depending on your variety, will start setting flowers after they've grown a few feet tall. To do: With the warmer temps, it's a good idea to mulch around the base of your peas to keep the soil temperature cool. This keeps the plants happy and lets them continue with their normal pace. If they get too warm, they will go into shock and won't develop normally. Garlic Now: Ripening Next: Our warm temps are cuing the garlic to get to developing, already. So that's what they're doing. Thicker above ground growth and bigger cloves below the soil.  To do: Still, nada. When most of the lower leaves are brown and the tops are still green, we'll harvest them by lifting them out of the soil with a garden fork dug in widely around the base. Then they'll cure. THEN we'll eat them. But not yet. Be patient, you.  Herbs & Flowers Chives  As the temps warm up, the chives go into overdrive - which is great. Go grab some bunches of chives and chop them up with your early spring greens and some fresh herbs for a fancy ass salad that will impress your dinner guests or at least fancy up your own lunch.  Ever just tucked fresh chives into a quesadilla? Go on and try it and then tell me that growing chives was a waste of time. You won't be able to do it. Dill   This stuff is starting to look a little haggard, that's true. If given enough time, it will blossom with yellow blooms and attract all kinds of beneficials to your garden, like hover flies and honeybees, but if you're trying to make room for warm weather crops, it's OK to harvest this completely and make way for other stuff. If you want to leave it in to benefit your warm weather crops, it is an excellent companion for cabbage, corn, lettuces and onions. I've been better. Nasturtium It's back! Yay! It's back! Nasturtium does so much in the garden that it's a good thing that its down time is so brief in our area. It's frost tender, so it's out of the game from about December through February. But as soon as the temperatures warm up the nasturtium is the first to jump up looking for sun.  If you didn't have any nasturtium growing last year (which will mean that its seeds are 99.9% likely to have overwintered in your soil and will be germinating now, if not super soon), get a packet or two of your favorite varieties (there are tons) and drop in a few seeds where they'll be sure to get watered.  In a few weeks you'll see their little round leaves poking out of the soil and, not long after, trailing vines of dark (or variegated) green leaves and bright colorful flowers. Don't pull me out. I'm not a weed. Nasturtium serves four high-fiveable purposes in the garden: 1. It's a living mulch It grows along the soil's surface and keeps the soil cool and the weeds down. Plant some at the base of your peas and let them live all symbiotically. Optional: Sing kumbaya. 2. It's a cut flower When you have a couple dozen blossoms open, go out to the garden with a jar of water and snap off the flowers about half a foot down the main stem and arrange a beautiful bouquet. They'll last about a week and the plant will work even harder to put out even more blooms. You'll have bouquets through fall. Seriously. It's awesome. 3. It's edible Ever had a fancy salad in a restaurant that came with flowers on top? You can do this at home and save on the valet service while still feeling fancy. Just pop off a few of the blossoms, rinse them gently to remove any hitchhikers and toss them with your salad greens. They're a little peppery and add great color. Plus, imagine the fancy factor - it's a thing. 4. It protects cucurbits and fruit trees If you're growing cucumbers, melons or squash, this is your man for companion planting. It has been said that the evil cucumber beetle can't find its way to your cucurbits  with this guy vining its way all over the place and it also attracts beneficial insects to its blossoms.