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GREETINGS AND WELCOME TO THE NEW SUBSCRIBERS!

In three weeks, I start planting! There’s much work to do before then, but I’m chipping away at it. I’ve rearranged the germinating room, which is a spare bedroom. Well, it’s a bedroom no longer! There’s still a lot to move around and clean, but it’ll be done in time for seeding green onions and chard!

I’m shaking off my covid weariness and replacing it with motivation and excitement for a new season. It’s not hard to do when the daffodils and tulips are popping up through the soil!

WATER

I don’t have to tell you it’s been a dry winter. We get most of our precipitation in February and March, and so far we’re way behind. Another storm is supposed to come through in the middle of next week. Cross your fingers it’s huge! As much as I dislike winter, I’ve never prayed so hard for snow.

This is a good year to set up drip irrigation in your garden so you’re not wasting water. Get water where it’s needed. Use thick mulch to reduce evaporation.

Install gutters and a cistern for rainwater collection. You’re probably saying, ‘It has to rain to catch water!’, but you’d be surprised how much water you can collect with a brief cloudburst!

GARDEN JOURNAL

Start a garden journal! Do you hear me say this every month? That’s because it’s important to your success as a gardener. Keep records of everything garden-related – weather, last and first frost dates, purchases, soil amendments, harvests, successes, failures, and dreams. Take lots of photos, too.

Use a garden planning app, a blank book, or an Instagram account. Anything that you want to engage with all season and beyond. Your garden journal will be a valuable reference for future years. 

TREE PRUNING

February is a busy month for preparation. Clean your tools and seeding supplies, order seeds, plants, and summer flowering bulbs, and make plans for construction projects like walkways, fences, and patios. Houseplants will show signs of new growth, so repot those that need it and start fertilizing at half strength.

Prune your fruit trees! Get the details in this article I wrote for the Taos News last year.

Rob Heyduck, Senior Research Specialist at New Mexico State University’s Sustainable Agriculture Science Center at Alcalde, is pruning a jujube fruit tree. (Courtesy Photo) MAR16

CSA SHARES

Place your order for organic starts that are ready at the right time for planting. The deadline for Spring Shares is March 15, and for Summer Shares, April 15.

CSA Shares and Accessories

AUNTIE NANNIE’S SEED EXCHANGE

Seed exchange stations will be back in place by March 15! Many seed companies have been very generous with donations again this year. It’s so heartwarming to be part of this sharing of resources. 

No big seed swap again due to Covid. Maybe next year? I think we said that last year.

Until next time,

nannie

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