N&C Midwest: January/February 2019!

OhioGardener wrote:Went out this morning to look at my beds to see if anything needs to done, and everything looks good to go! The cover crops are growing nicely - it hasn't been cold long enough for them to go dormant yet - and I could see holes of evidence that the night crawlers have been coming up to get to the coffee grounds scattered on top of the soil. Anxiously awaiting late March when I will be redoing the soil of the beds to add charged Biochar to the top 6".

I, too, have a large collection of seed catalogs, but already have all of the seeds for spring planting - I have a lot more seeds than square feet to plant them! Ha!

Scorpio Rising wrote:We had some cold, but it was brief and not really cold...what’s biochar?

I don't need any seeds either, OG, just dreaming!  Maybe a pickling cuke type.

OhioGardener wrote:
SR, Biochar is pure charcoal that is added to the soil to retain moisture and provide a home for microbes, etc..  I experimented with adding it to one raised bed this past summer, and had better results than I expected, so I am going to add it to all beds next spring and hope for a repeat of the results. There is a whole thread on it here: Biochar


I am going to try these Cool Customer Pickling Cucumbers this year from Johnny's Select Seeds.  The description sounds too good not the try them! Ha!

Scorpio Rising wrote:Will check them out!  So, no composing, just directly on the beds?

OhioGardener wrote:Anyone besides me ready for spring?   

"Gardeners, I think, dream bigger than emperors."
                                                  ~ Mary Cantwell

OhioGardener wrote:SR, we have a pair of Robins that stay here year around.  They have 2 or 3 nests of babies in the apple tree each summer, and in spring all of the ones that were raised here return to make their nests as well. Sometimes they become a little of a pest in digging for worms in the raised beds, but we love having them here.

Dan in Ct wrote:Scorpio Rising, I used to think the same thing until about 10 years ago when I saw hundreds of robins flocked together early in the morning in January near a local shopping area. At The Crazy Half Acre I never see more than a few flocked together feeding on the plentiful earthworms here beginning in March. I am wondering if it is a migratory thing, there aren't the enough food sources along the trek route to make the trek or the robins just got lazy, toughened up a little and stay cation. There maybe be grant money in it. Now I am wondering how far south they originally migrated?

sanderson wrote:Robins one day, snow the next.  You guys get some wide swings in weather.