Chores for Changing Weather

Written by Nellie Neal

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Lettuce and broccoli are crowding the center section of a 30 foot long grow box built high enough for me to cultivate while sitting in a chair. Newly raked leaves will soon go into the other two sections where a shovel’s full of native soil has been turned, along with a commercial planting mix (you can buy this by the pickup truck from the nearest big landscaper), ground pine bark, and a bit of lime. By February it will be a fine place for potatoes and green peas. These same elements also work together to prepare ground level beds of all shapes and sizes. Do it now, and plant at your leisure later.

I’m reworking the herbs to be sure a good harvest is on hand daily through the winter. Fresh parsley plants come first, curly and flat types for different dishes and nice companions for anything from pansies to greens. On the sunny back landing near the kitchen door, I grow thyme and sage in a big bowl with garlic chives and oregano. Louisiana shallots, rosemary and stevia round out the back door garden, all ready to nourish both stomach and spirit.

It’s time to stage some temporary plant covers, since if they aren’t ready to go when needed, they’re useless. Yours can be as simple as a stack of 1 gallon pond pots (black plastic nursery cans minus their holes) that can be quickly dropped atop small plants in late afternoon and removed each morning. Or you can cover an entire bed with plastic pipe hoops covered in plastic that can be opened for ventilation when the sun is out. My latest version of winter cover adapts tomato cages. Since I find it difficult to dispose of anything that might later prove useful, several of the wire structures are missing legs or have lost their welds so the rings are loose. I’m wiring the ‘legs’ together into a tepee shape and covering the cages with plastic secured by clear duct tape. When a freezing night threatens my broccoli, I’ll turn the tomato cages upside down so their widest part slips over a plant. Yes, it takes a little finesse to gather up the wide leaves and tuck them inside, but leave the tape where you can easily open one side and you can leave the cages in place on all but the warmest winter days.

In the category of pure inspiration, it’ll be an act of mercy when I cut down the three rascals in the front garden, or at least move them to the back. An overgrown wiegela, the leaning tower of arborvitae, and a sasanqua bullied by the others must go, and soon. They’ll be replaced by a striking purple crepe myrtle and a carpet of white flowering bulbs including daffodils, tulips, and snowdrops. The view of the front door, and from it, will be much improved, along with my spirits. That’s about all that’ll get done around here in the next two weeks, as I’ll be on the road to promote my new book, Organic Gardening Down South. The tour will make three stops in Mississippi soon, in Pass Christian on November 1 (8am at the Market), in Lumberton on November 6 (5pm at Bass Pecans), and November 7 (noon at Henleyfield Community Center). I hope you’ll join me at one of them, or visit my website, www.gardenmama.com , or Amazon.com to purchase your copy.

GardenMama Nellie Neal is a writer, photographer, and radio host whose new book, Organic Gardening Down South, will be released in September, 2008, by BB Mackey Books of Wayne, PA. She has been a member of Garden Writers Association since 1993 and is National Spokesperson for Multi Bloom and Mega Green, OMRI listed organic catfish hydrolysate fertilizers made in Isola, MS. Her website is www.gardenmama.com.You can see her member profile at www.theMulch.com/profile/gardenmama.