Vegetables, Fruits, and Herbs

• Water, harvest, and weed any plants growing under row covers.
• Water vegetables well before a cold spell.
• On nice days, spread some compost and double dig beds in preparation for planting this spring.
• Plant asparagus crowns this month. Remember to spare no effort in enriching the soil organically since the bed will produce for 20 years.
• The expression "fine herbes" may be found in many cookbooks. This is a French herb mixture containing chives, chervil, parsley, tarragon, and sometimes other herbs that were added to sauces, soups, and cheese and egg dishes.

• You still have time to make herb vinegars from chives, shallots, garlic, or any herbs on your windowsill for the holidays. Use approximately four ounces of fresh herbs to one quart of wine vinegar. Allow the herbs to infuse for at least two weeks.

• Warm spells in winter: Sometimes in the middle of winter, we suddenly get a few warm days. For the most part, this is not a big problem, but you may need to check on a couple of things. If you covered your roses with rose cones, you may need to ventilate the cone to prevent heat from building up inside. The same should be done with coldframes. If it is a warm, sunny day, the temperatures may be rising in the cold frame more than you expect. Remember to close vents as the temperature drops again at night.

• Many gardeners choose to use inverted clay pots to cover perennials for an advantage of protection from drying winter winds. Chicken wire can be fashioned to stand over a large garden bed, and can be covered with burlap. Secure the burlap edges to the corners of the frame. Perennial vegetables such as artichokes, asparagus, chayotes and rhubarb can also be protected this way.

• A cover crop in vegetable gardens --one not intended for harvest-- can provide nutrients to the soil as well as winter protection (till it back into the soil in spring). Cover crops such as annual rye, crimson clover, hairy vetch, or winter wheat can provide shade for the soil, prevent germination of weed seeds, and fix nitrogen deep within the soil (hence the name green manures). If you choose to till in autumn instead of planting a cover crop, top it off with a winter mulch.

"He who plants a seed beneath the sod and waits to see a plant, believes in God."

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