Gettin' Down and Dirty

[Tom Butler]

Hey FOOGs Folks-

Time to get your soil ready for Spring planting! If you have an existing garden, turn over your soil or till it with a tiller. Turning over your soil is done exactly like it sounds - insert your shovel into the soil and flip it over. This keeps your soil soft and workable. This is a good time to amend your soil with compost, manure, etc. Mix in well. I recommend turning over your soil one more time before you plant in March. You don't want to plant until after last frost, so generally March is a good. I tend to plant a little earlier...after all, I like to take chances ...extreme gardening. :)

Plan what you are going to grow for the new year. When planting seedlings, like tomatoes, peppers, cabbage, etc. buy from a reputable source and try to buy organic if you can. Make sure you plant veggies that are proven for your area for best results. (they produce well). You can't rush Mother Nature, if you plant too early and the soil is not warm enough, it may stunt the growth of your seedlings, so just don't do it!

I do extreme gardening, sometimes I win, sometimes I lose. But that's half the fun. This spring I am looking forward to planting some of the new seeds, my daughter, Rachel gave me for Christmas. She picked them up at Wildseed Farms in Fredricksburg. I will be growing just about everything from eggplant to heirloom tomatoes.

PS Remember plant something just for fun!

Tom aka Your Garden Buddy

[Wendy Butler]

Thanks Dad! I'll plant tons of carrots up front so they are stuffed before they get to the back lol! Happy, stuffed rabbits may leave the rest of the garden alone. Fingers crossed! Love you bunches Dad!

[Tom Butler]

Hey Wendy, thanks for the interesting query. Their is nothing that I know of that will deter rabbits. SORRY!! In answer to frozen soil will have to wait till it thaws out in the spring. Wendy hope all is great with all of you. LOVE DAD

[Wendy Butler]

What an awesome blog Dad! What do you suggest for areas that have frozen ground for a while? When should I turn over our soil? I also have an interesting query, is there something I can plant that would be a rabbit deterrent? I love them but I know they will love our veggies more. Love ya Dad :)

[Elliot Jackson]

Great article, Tom! Robert Adams, my roommate and fellow FOOGS member, and I just started some heirloom tomato seeds last week and they just sprouted. We just installed some grow lights from Lowe's above the fridge and are looking forward to transplanting them into larger plants in the next month or so and planting them mid-march. We started seeds in early February last year but they weren't big enough by the time planting came around so we decided to do some extreme gardening ourselves this year and start a little earlier. With our light setup, and hopefully some cooperation from the sun later in the process, we should have them ready to go soon!