Dreaming of Spring Gardening in the Middle of a Wisconsin winter part 2

[Echelontheory101]

It's the end of January. I'm beginning to scheme out this coming years garden. I don't garden as big or as much as I used to, but I still enjoy dreaming.

This time of year the catalogs are arriving daily, the seeds are out in the stores, and I'm itching to get going, but my gardens are covered by snow. It's gonna be a few months before I can get my hands on some unfrozen ground, so in the meantime I'm dreaming and making plans.

I'm about to start a few perennial seeds, and I'm trying to root a sweet potato. I'm on my second potato. The first refuses to do anything. I'm still hopeful. If not I will order some slips.

So anyone else dreaming and scheming? Wanna share your plans or hopes for the coming season? I want to hear them.

@21hens-incharge you, or anyone else wanna chew the garden fat? As the saying goes.

Getting our first snow tomorrow and I'm already planning for May i do love the winter but do have lots of plans for the spring already for things I wanna change from this past season in yhe garden!

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Getting our first snow tomorrow and I'm already planning for May i do love the winter but do have lots of plans for the spring already for things I wanna change from this past season in yhe garden!

Seems every year I'm changing stuff around. Lately it's been moving the blueberry bushes around. We are downsizing here as I can't do what I used to do, and am mostly doing container and garden box growing.

 

[Echelontheory101]

Seems every year I'm changing stuff around. Lately it's been moving the blueberry bushes around. We are downsizing here as I can't do what I used to do, and am mostly doing container and garden box growing.

I have 5 blueberry bushes and 4 blackberry bushes that I say im gonna dig up split and move...every. single. Fall Ill be like ok the leaves have fallen gotta remember to dig those up... NOPE lol

I do mostly raised bed and container as well but I do have quite a bit of beds that seem to multiply in number every year haha

 

[jvls1942]

i tried sending pictures with my phone.
i don't think it worked.

 

[AnnaEva]

I have 5 blueberry bushes and 4 blackberry bushes that I say im gonna dig up split and move...every. single. Fall Ill be like ok the leaves have fallen gotta remember to dig those up... NOPE lol

I do mostly raised bed and container as well but I do have quite a bit of beds that seem to multiply in number every year haha

Haha, I totally get you Every fall I tell myself “this year I’m gonna move those perennials”… and then nope, just leave them where they are. It’s like the plants multiply overnight!

 

[Callender Girl]

It's good to see I'm not the only one whose "plant to-do list" has some of the same tasks on it every year.

Allegedly, it will be warm and sunny in a couple of days, maybe even hit 60 degrees. It's hard to imagine that this morning.

Blackberries went wild over summer and would need to be attacked with a machete; the last remaining blueberry bush died -- along with it, any attempts by me to grow blueberries here.

I use uneaten leftovers from the goats' hay as strawberry bed mulch and got that spread Friday, most likely my last gardening task of the year. Chicken wire staked over the new garlic bed seems to be keeping the squirrels from planting more unwanted walnut trees.

Thanks to Saturday's snow and today's 19 degrees, I probably won't do anything more than cut back the peonies' lifeless foliage.

I have, however, resumed my "hobby" of rotating out frozen poultry waterers and replacing them with ones I've thawed indoors. The snow-rain mix left most of the coop doors and latches frozen to varying degrees by yesterday morning. Bad words were said as I wrestled with them.

Jim, did the bunny poop get delivered? And, more importantly, did Annie make cookies or carrot cake?

 

[Echelontheory101]

Haha, I totally get you Every fall I tell myself “this year I’m gonna move those perennials”… and then nope, just leave them where they are. It’s like the plants multiply overnight!

Totally haha!

 

[Callender Girl]

Today's to-do list includes cutting back peonies and hostas, MAYBE some of the daylilies, although there are more than I want to think about.

Following a too-short break, I have resumed coyote hazing. One appeared right up by my veggie garden, convincing me without any lingering doubt that it was a coyote that took my runner duck, Drew, while my pet sitter was here, apparently not paying attention.

The coyote led me on a chase past the barn and into Sullivan's recently turned-up field, full of chunks and clumps of soil. The black dirt was sopping wet from melted snow; it tripped me repeatedly and tried to grab the boots right off my feet.

We both went through a barbed wire fence, she more successfully and faster than me; my hoodie caught twice and I went down on my knees in mud. Scrubbing the stains off my pant knees later with a nail brush and some Lava soap worked well.

Did anyone see the northern lights this week? They were visible here but showed up well past my bedtime . I saw them once, years ago, when we were camping on the shore of Lake Superior.

Hope everyone gets a warm, sunny day today!

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I saw the northern lights the day before they started talking about them. I think it was Sunday or Monday night. I haven't seen them since. It looked a bit like streaks in the sky last night but I didn't really see any colors or movement. I don't think I ever saw them whenever they make a big deal out of them. People can catch them with their phones, but I don't think at are actually seeing them. I saw them one winter night a few years ago and they were spectacular. Dancing and flashing across the sky.

 

[Callender Girl]

Lucky you! The only time I've seen them, the lights were more like ripples of green in the sky, not the spectacular stuff.

Yesterday, I trimmed back all the peonies and hostas -- and none of the daylilies. Using a Japanese pull saw, I managed to remove a large, broken walnut branch that was dangling over me and the peonies. Sawing above my head, I ended up with lots of bark and sawdust in my hair.

Hey, Jim, at this point, I would expect some commentary from you on why I didn't wear some kind of protective gear, or at least a hat.

There was a lot of field work yesterday -- considering how wet I know the soil still is. I figured the noisy machinery would keep coyotes away, so I let the chickens out to forage and dust bathe under the big coops. They had a great time. I know, because I sat down for a while just to watch them. Also, my neighbor dropped off pumpkins from her field as a poultry treat. Ducks attack those with the vigor of little machine guns.

Another 60-plus degree day ahead. There's still time to make the most of the weather reprieve. Look out, daylilies -- I may still get to you!