Spring Around the Corner

The last weekend in February, and I'm looking at seed catalogs and gardening magazines! The first day of spring is 21 days away, but I can get a head start on my summer garden, even in fickle Colorado, with a couple of easy steps.

First I'm going to take stock in the state of my trees and shrubbery. We haven't had any BIG or heavy snows (comparatively), but I know there's some winter 'kill' out there that should be attended to while they are still dormant. This will reduce the chances of disease and bugs from entering the cuts. We're supposed to have sixty degree weather this week, so it should be a perfect time to stroll around the yard and do some trimming.

The second thing that I'm going to do is that while I'm walking in the garden, I'll be wearing Lawn Aerator Shoesto aerate the lawn. These will help air and moisture get to the roots of the grass for a good head start on the growing season.

The third thing I'm going to do this month is check the soil in my garden and designate an area where I can sow some cool-season vegetable seeds. As soon as the soil can be worked I'm going to toss down some spinach, lettuce and Swiss chard seeds right into the garden. Peas and radishes can also be sown at this time, as all these plants will survive frost and flourish in chilly weather. And since my soil has so much clay, even though I've been amending my garden soil with compost for years, I may opt for sowing these vegie seeds in my raised garden bed. Another option for those of you out there who do not have raised beds is growing spring crops in large containers. Salad days, here we come!