Tuesday, January 18, 2011

January in the Celtic Ozark Garden

It is well into January in the Celtic Ozark Garden. Yet, spring seems like it will never arrive. I am ready for the Spring Gardening season to begin. Luckily, there is something I can do to help soothe this itch to garden. Now is the best time to get ready for your Spring season vegetable garden.

Spring vegetables are those that can thrive during the shorter days and cooler temperatures of spring, Lettuce, collards, snow peas, cabbage and broccoli are a few examples of Spring vegetables. The Celtic Ozark Garden will also include onions, carrots and potatoes, because they can grow underground.

As a general thought, vegetables need around seven to eight hours of sunlight to get going. Spring vegetables will even do okay with just 6 hours of light. If you are planting in partial shade, take this into account.

Make sure your soil is ready to go also. If you are a fan of raised bed gardens, as I am, have your frame ready to go with half of your old soil, 25% manure and 25% compost. The leavy vegetables of the Spring Celtic Garden will love the manure. Be careful with too much manure, though, around your carrots, onions, and potatoes. You want roots, not leaves.

In my area, it can take as long as April 30th to get past the last frost. Until then, I have to really watch my garden. I plant anyway around St. Patrick’s Day with root vegetables. Here is a breakdown of some last frost dates. Zone 3 – May 31, Zone 4 May 30, Zone 5 April 30, Zone 6 April 30, Zone 7 April 30, Zone 8 March 30, Zone 9 February 28, Zone 10 Jan or before. Zone 11 are the lucky bugs, they are frost free throughout the year. A good additional source of local, reliable advice is your area's County Cooperative Extension Service or check with knowledgeable members of local gardening clubs

I will write again soon on when to plant the vegetables. Until then, happy gardening, and don’t forget your seed order!

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