It's funny how we think so much about gardening when it's cold outside and the snow is blowing. Seems like we always want what we can't have. Thankfully, in the Ozarks there are a lot of winter days that are just perfect for working outside and getting your garden ready to go.
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We put together a list of things that will keep you busy until the groundhog comes out. When you work through it you'll see that there's barely enough time to get things ready.
Feed The Birds – don't forget about all your feathery neighbors that have a hard time finding good stuff to eat. Keeping the feeders full in mid-winter is a full time job, and they need water, too. If everything freezes up at your place put out a small bit of water by the bird feeder and replenish daily.
Take Dormant Cuttings – shrubs and roses of many kinds will grow from cuttings. With many plants it doesn’t matter where on the stem you cut, but for most make a cut just below a leaf joint at the base and a cut just above a leaf joint at the top. This produces better results. Many will respond better if they are treated with rooting hormone and ‘wounded’ at the base. Just remove a short sliver of wood from the base of each cutting to expose some internal tissue. Place the prepared cuttings in pots of compost and check them periodically to make sure the compost remains moist.
Prune Fruit Trees – Remove weak, diseased, injured or narrow-angle branches (the weaker of any crossing or interfering branches), and one branch of forked limbs. Also remove upright branches and any that grow toward the center of tree. You want to keep your tree from becoming too thick and crowded and to keep its height reasonable.
Start A Growing Journal – It's easy to forget what worked and what didn't. No need repeating the same old mistakes. Keep good notes on your garden successes and failures. January is a great time to review.
Order Seeds – Planting time sneaks up on us faster than imaginable. January is a good time to get your seeds ordered and they will be ready to go when needed. Also, make a calendar of when you want to plant certain crops and work your chore list back from there.
Plant Bulbs – Winter is a good time to plant bulbs. Many flowers that grow from bulbs need to freeze underground to complete their cycle. Other bulb that are more delicate need to be planted after all danger of frost has passed.
Clean Up Growing Beds – Winter is a great time to work the soil a little and pull out the old weeds. Don't do any heavy tilling if the soil is too wet or your do damage to the composition of the soil that will last all year. If your soil is not too wet it's a good time to apply natural fertilizers and mulch.
Work Over The Tools – During the last year you probably broke or dulled some of your favorite garden tools. Now is a good time to fix and replace. Also, check out the garden hoses and fix any ends that leak.
Start Seedlings – As soon as your seed order comes in you may want to start some of them indoors. If you are going to grow green manure crops in some of your beds then February is the time to start oats. I like to start snow peas in February for green manure or eating.
Transplant – In the Ozarks transplanting can usually take place from fall on, but there is a danger of heaving from the ground freezing. If you wait until later in the winter the plant is still dormant but has less chance of damage from freezing ground. Many plants do fine being transplanted even later when the first signs of growth come along in the spring.
Test The Soil – do you know the pH of your soil or the balance of nutrients? Your county extension or other local labs can test your soil and give you results. Winter is a great time to get things balanced for the year.
Add Ashes – if you burn wood for heat you can add a few ashes to your compost pile. It can be a natural source of potassium and trace elements and also has a liming effect, so wood ash can remedy excessively acidic soils. Just don't over do it. Any excess ashes can be piled up where your chickens can get to it, they love to dust in the cold ashes.
Clean Flower Pots – removing the old dirt from flower pots gets rid of the chance of pathogens in the pot. I like to just get the old dirt out and leave them in the sun and the rain, but some gardeners like to actually wash them in soap and water. Broken pots can be reduced to shards and added to the bottom of plantings for drainage.
That's a pretty good list for January and winter time in general. In the Ozarks we get a lot of pretty days to work outside and enjoy some crisp mountain air. In the Ozarks Country Homestead store we stock some items that aren't available locally and really help out with the chores.
