Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - 45

Assess your 2013 garden with your 2014
garden in mind. What did you plant too much
of? Too little? What succeeded? What failed?
enough straw to keep the leaves in
place. If you heat with wood, sprinkle ashes on the beds over the
winter.

8. bring in the rain gauge (unless
you have one that won’t crack if the
water in it freezes). Upend water
barrels for the winter.

4. Store garden StakeS, cageS,
and portable fencing out of
the weather. Let wooden stakes
dry out after pulling and before storing to extend their life.

9. if your neareSt and deareSt iS
a gardener, books on the subject
make splendid Christmas gifts. They
run the gamut from practical reference guides, to coffee table books
on heirloom vegetables, to essay collections. Other possibilities: a garden
calendar; a good tool; a gift subscription to a gardening magazine.

5. Store winter vegetableS and
fruitS – squash, potatoes, sweet
potatoes, apples, etc. – in a cool,
dark place. Stored correctly they will
last for months. If your winter
squash begin to go bad, split in half,
scoop out seeds and bake (face
down to retain moisture). Cool,
remove skin and freeze the flesh.
6. clean and Store toolS.
Treat essential garden tools to some
TLC: clean, oil, and put them away.
Sharpen hoes. If you have trouble
with losing tools in the garden as
you work, buy a roll of bright-colored duct tape and mark the
handles.
7. if you didn’t draw a garden
plan for 2013, do it now.
It is astonishingly difficult, once
you’ve cleaned up the garden, to
remember where you planted what.
If you took photographs during the
garden season, they will serve. But
past gardens tend to blend in your
memory, and rotating crops is important to garden success.

Here are four perfect-for-January
and February garden chores:
10. aSSeSS your 2013 garden
with your 2014 garden in mind.
What did you plant too much of? Too
little? What succeeded? What failed?
Did the fault lie with the weather or
some other factor you can’t control?
Or did you plant the failed crop too
early (or too late)? Did you give it too
little space? Was the garden too big
for you to care for, too small to suit
your needs, or just right?
11. plan your 2014 garden.
Decide what to plant where – and

how much of it. Anything new you
want to add? Anything you want to
subtract? Draw a plan for your 2014
garden. Remember, cool-weather
crops can be followed by others in the
same space. (Lettuce, followed by
snap beans, and, if the beans are out
by Labor Day, you can plant turnips or
kale.) You may want to draw three
versions of your garden plan, one for
spring, one for summer, and one for
fall. (Or just indicate second and third
plantings for spaces with quickmaturing crops.) If your garden is sunchallenged, as mine is, keep in mind
the height of adjacent crops as well
as rotation when drawing your plan.
12. inventory Seed SupplieS.
Throw out ancient seeds (most are
viable for about three years); make a
list of what you have enough of, and
what you need. Seed sellers would
prefer you not do this; their gorgeously illustrated catalogs begin
arriving about the time the fall foliage
season ends. Put the catalogs away
until you’ve ascertained your needs,
then order.
13. Schedule your plantingS.
There are plenty of handy lists in
books and on line to tell you how
many weeks before the last spring
frost to start seeds indoors and out.
Find out the frost-free date for your
area, mark the date, count back and
make up your list. Before you know it,
gardening time will be here again. 

Find out the frost-free date for your area, mark
the date, count back and make up your list.
Before you know it, gardening time will be
here again.
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2013 | 45

Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013

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