Dayton "Dirt" - January 1, 2010

Well the bad news first. We’re still not in the depth of winter as the coldest part of winter is after mid-January through early February.

The good news is that we’re more than one week past the winter solstice and the day length is increasing by a few minutes each day.

There’s not much growing now except some young Azalea, blueberries and Rhododendron that we took as cuttings last summer.

Many of you have poinsettias that will last into spring as their flower bracts do not abscure easily like the ones sold in the 1960’s and earlier.

January is the month to study all those garden supply catalogues for all the exciting new cultivars of trees, shrubs, flowers and seeds. Winter is the time to dream away to imagine the possibilities of gardens to come with visions of riotous color from foliage and flowers to a bounty of harvest from your own small fruits, fruit trees and vegetable plants.

Now is the time to start planning your spring garden to get the most from your hard work and not only from what you’ll actually plant but what steps you’ll take to achieve maximum success such as soil testing, soil preparation, spacing of plantings, staggering multiple plantings, etc.

One thing I keep repeating is the importance of planting your own vegetable garden as a supplement to your food sources for a healthy diet. I pulled a bag of vegetables from the refrigerator that are to be steamed in the bag. The taste was mediocre so that when I checked for the expiration date (the bag was well within the date of expiration) I noticed that all the contents of the bag did not come from the United States but also China and Mexico. I called the well known company to inquire about the use of foreign sources of supply for their product to which they supplied the answer that they have full control of quality.

My thought process is that they want to maximize their own profits even if it means there is a greater chance of something slipping by that has been sprayed with dangerous pesticides or is inferior in quality with these foreign sources. I do not buy the brand of frozen vegetables now but only another brand which I read “produce of USA” on the label exclusively.

I just wish I had my own canning or frozen vegetables from my own garden like I preach to you to grow and preserve. Maybe this year I can truly tell you to do as I do and not tell you to do and I do not!
Oh well.

Happy New Year,
Tom