Bear Moon is the Ojibwa name for the February moon. According to Indian legend duriing this time “we discover how to see beyond reality and to communicate through energy rather than sound.” I think the magic of gardening offers us a way to communicate with nature in a personal way which helps block out the noise of daily living.
It’s been so mild this winter that my internal weather/gardening clock says it’s time to start my tomato and pepper seeds indoors, but alas I’ll keep my green thumbs in my pockets until at least late March.
With that said, I took a couple dozen cuttings from three geranium plants I brought inside in the fall: a red and pink from a couple of zonal geraniums and a pink one from a really cool variegated Pelergonium. I coated the lower stems around the nodes with a rooting hormone and stuck them in a moist medium. I now have about 15 rooted plants that will eventually be potted and placed in a south-facing window.
Okay, I lied. I did actually start a few tomato plants. Five to be exact and some basil. I’m going to place them under my LED light for 18 hours a day and see what happens.
A Gift of Garden Wisdom
A dedicated gardener died in December of last year at the age of 101.Peter Gianakura is probably best known as the proprietor of the American Cafe, a quaint little restaurant that was located next to the Sault Theater. He was also a passionate flower and vegetable gardener who lived in a modest house on Carrie Street. He used to show up for garden presentations that I would give at the library or college.
Peter was widely known in the Soo for not only being a good husband and father but also for his interest he showed in others. He was the kind of guy who when you talked to him he gave you his fullest attention and acted like everything you were saying was really important.
One day Peter called me to ask me if I could fix his pond. He had one of those hard-shelled ponds loaded with fish and water plants. My wife and I used to sell these liners at our little shop, Haylake Gardens. I told him I’d come over and take a look, which I did. I was able to seal the crack in the bottom with a hard cement-type sealer and it apparently never leaked again.
Well, you would have thought I had given him a hundred bucks! He was so appreciative. I wouldn’t take any money for this quick fix so a few weeks later he called me to say he had something for me in return for fixing his pond. He gave me a little book called “Garden Quotations,” edited by Helen Exley. It’s a treasure-trove of gardening wisdom and quotes that I’m sure resonate with gardeners everywhere. Not only is it chock full of neat quotes but he added a few to the inside jacket, which kind of personalized the book for me. Here are a couple such quotes:
“Gardening is not a hobby, it is a solace for the frazzled soul.” Mary Janigan.
“If you have a have a garden and a library you have all you need.” Cicero
Starting a New Bed?
When I first started gardening I thought the best way to prepare a garden bed, whether for flowers or vegetables, was to remove the sod and then fill it with some good topsoil. I see a lot of new gardeners doing this. Not only is it back-breaking work, but it is also kind of fruitless. If you’re doing it to remove the weeds, I have news for you: they’ll come back any ol’ way!
Now when I prepare a new bed for myself or a customer, I do one of two things: if it’s for a vegetable garden I spray with a weed killer, like horticultural vinegar (or Roundup, if you’re okay with this herbicide) and then get to tilling; if it’s for a flower bed, it’s even easier. I spray first and then I go ahead and plant my perennial flowers by digging out a nice wide hole for each plant. Then I put down thick cardboard between each plant. I top this off with a thick layer of Scott’s premium mulch. If and when weeds do poke through they’re easy to pull. Add mulch each year, for at least a few years, to keep the weeds down. Here is a good how-to video on landscaping with cardboard.
Okay, enough talk, I better get my seed order started.
Happy Gardening,
Neil
