12/30/2011
Winter
This is the best time to clean up and winterize all your hand and motorized tools and equipment. STIHL has a great “how-to” section of their website that explains how to properly prepare and store 2-cycle outdoor power equipment. Their step-by-step instruction is really recommended any time you will not be using the tools for 30 days or more.
When it’s too cold to go outside, think about building insulated cold frames to be able to start flowers and vegetables earlier in the spring and extend your harvests later in the fall. In a zone 7 garden for example, frost blankets work very well during our milder spring and fall weather. Further in the north, using straw bales or insulated wood boxes are necessary to protect cold hardy plants.
If you have not done so already, draw a diagram of your vegetable garden as it was this year, and begin planning your crop rotations for next year’s garden. This pre-planning makes structuring and planting the garden in the spring easier and faster.
To set up an indoor light system, replace any fluorescent light bulbs, if needed; and make sure everything is in working order to begin starting seeds for flowers and vegetables at the appropriate time for your region. Begin with cool season flowers, such as pansies, violas and snapdragons, and vegetables, such as broccoli and salad greens, to get a jump on the season.
You can grow small pots of herbs in sunny windows or under lights, so you have easy access to snip and use in your recipes. This is a great way to interest kids in growing plants, especially when they can add them to the recipe themselves.
If there are predictions of a very severe cold snap approaching, protect evergreens from drying out by wrapping them with a frost protection cover or using an anti-desiccant to prevent the leaves or needles from drying out. If you choose to use an anti-desiccant, be sure to follow all directions on the label.
During milder temperatures, always check perennials; and if they have heaved out of the ground, push them back down or use some extra mulch for protection until the weather warms up.
You can start an indoor worm bin using old newspapers torn into strips for bedding, and add kitchen vegetable wastes for them to feed on. You will be producing “worm castings” for your houseplants or garden – another great organic fertilizer. This is another good way to get kids interested in gardening.
During each mild spell in the weather, check the vegetable garden beds, securing row covers as needed to protect early spring crops.
Find chainsaws from Wes Stauffer Engines and Equipment, your primary dealer for STIHL located in Ephrata, PA 17522 - Chain saws, trimmers & outdoor power equipment.
