Mid-South: December 2016

Where has the year gone? I can't believe we're here already... Did you get your garden where you wanted it yet? I know I haven't, but progress has been made. And I guess that's something, lol!

We're starting the month off on kind of a somber note here in the Mid-South section of the country. We've had tornadoes the last two days & wildfires burning out of control for weeks. We've had some death & lots of destruction. We've had a drought that doesn't seem to want to end. (Even with the rains, my area is still over 19 inches low for the year. I know some areas are in even worse shape.)

But I want to remind everyone that with destruction comes new growth. And with the end of this year, comes new opportunities. Not just for our gardens, but for us personally as well. Follow your dreams! Don't worry about huge steps. Just take baby ones...

For our gardens this month, Gardenate.com only has asparagus & onions listed for planting.

If you haven't planted your garlic, do it now!

For those of you in LA, I found this information this morning. Keep in mind that, like FL, many folks this far south can plant year-round. (Yeah, I know, this is more deep south than mid...)

http://www.nola.com/homegarden/index.ssf/2016/01/your_yearly_gardening_calendar.html

December: Vegetables to plant in December include beets, cabbage, carrots, celery, Chinese cabbage, collards, kale, kohlrabi, lettuce, mustard, onions, radish, rutabaga, shallots, spinach, Swiss chard and turnips.

Anticipating freezing temperatures, evaluate tropical plants in your landscape. Decide what needs to be protected and decide how you will do it (bring inside, cover). Have materials on hand.

If any gardening tools or equipment need repair, now is a good time to get that done so everything is in good shape next spring.

Prune off any freeze damage caused to herbaceous tropical plants, such as gingers, philodendrons, cannas and others. Place a 4- to 6-inch layer of mulch, such as pine straw, around the base of the plants to protect the roots and rhizomes.

For the Piedmont areas, Rodale's Organic Life suggests:

December: Vegetables to plant in December include beets, cabbage, carrots, celery, Chinese cabbage, collards, kale, kohlrabi, lettuce, mustard, onions, radish, rutabaga, shallots, spinach, Swiss chard and turnips.

Anticipating freezing temperatures, evaluate tropical plants in your landscape. Decide what needs to be protected and decide how you will do it (bring inside, cover). Have materials on hand.

If any gardening tools or equipment need repair, now is a good time to get that done so everything is in good shape next spring.

Prune off any freeze damage caused to herbaceous tropical plants, such as gingers, philodendrons, cannas and others. Place a 4- to 6-inch layer of mulch, such as pine straw, around the base of the plants to protect the roots and rhizomes.



I would also like to recommend a terrific site that I've gotten LOTS of info from: Zukeeni.com

I guess that's it for now. Let us know what's happening in your garden!

Well, we finally got our first REAL frost this morning. Humidity's back up a bit... And we're expecting more rain this weekend!

According to the weather guys, it turned out that we had 6 tornadoes in GA the other day. Thankfully none were as bad as our neighboring states'.

We got 2-3/4 inches of rain Tues & Wed.  Yep, rain is expected again this weekend.

Drought, rain, tornadoes and fire. You guys have been through a lot.

Looks like the rain is (finally!) here to stay for a bit. The radar shows a HUGE green/yellow/red "puddle" coming in from the Gulf of Mexico. Yolos, Windmere, & I will be cutting our drought situations quite a bit over the next couple of days. Then it's gonna get COOOOLLLDD... (I can do without that, thank you very much, lol!)

Yep, rain rain rain.  But the rain is supposed to stop here at about 8am Tues and not return again until Monday so we will have a chance to dry out.  BUT it is forecast to go down between 23*F - 27*F on Thurs, Fri, and Sat.  I spent some time today between rain showers putting up some more hoops to help protect my Mighty Mustard and Sprouting Garlic.

Sounds like a plan!  Stay safe!

You fellow southerners ready for this hard freeze.  Low below freezing for three nights in a row.  Brrrrr!!!
Thursday night - 26*F
Friday night - 24*F
Saturday night - 28*F

It's 27 here right now. And the sun's sorta-kinda up already.