Sterilize your tools, pots, and anything you use around your
plants. Use one part household bleach to nine parts water. Soak
for about 15 minutes, rise, and let dry.
Your local delicatessen often has surplus 4- to 5-gallon,
plastic, pickle buckets -- a good size for growing containerized
plants, or pick up inexpensive, plastic buckets at your local
paint store. Remember to drill several quarter-inch holes in the
bottom of these containers for drainage. Also, plastic buckets
can be painted.
Do some reading on trickle irrigation this winter. Installing a
trickle system will save you time and water and increase your
garden yield.
Overhaul your garden sprayer. Inspect leather washers and the
plunger and replace any worn parts after thoroughly oiling new
leather. It may be difficult to locate exact parts for your
sprayer model. By starting now, you'll have them by gardening
season.
Now is a good time to take advantage of off-season specials on
garden tillers or attachments.
To clean crusty clay pots, soak them in vinegar to help remove
salt deposits. Soaking in a dilute solution of bleach (1 part bleach to
9 parts water) will kill micro-organisms. We do
not recommend combining any household chemicals for cleaning purposes, so
complete the cleaning in two steps. For heavily crusted pots, scrub with a steel wool pad after
soaking for 12 hours.
If you have some time this winter, paint the handles of garden
tools red or orange. This will preserve the wood and make the
tools easier to locate next summer when you lay them down in the
garden or on the lawn.
Move garden ornaments, such as urns or jars, into the garage or
basement to prevent damage during the cold winter season. If
containers are too large to move, cover them to prevent water
collecting in them or turn them upside down during the winter so
water will not collect and freeze in them causing breakage.
Make your own biodegradable seedling pots from newspapers. For
a 3-inch pot, cut a three-layer-thick section of newspaper into a
9-inch square. Divide the paper into nine equal squares, either
with a pen or by folding layers into thirds, unfolding them and
folding into thirds the other way. Make a cut from along one of
the fold lines in each of the four corners to the fold that marks
the center square. Bend the flaps up, overlap and staple them and
the seedling pot is ready. The pots can be planted in the garden
when the seedlings are ready to set out.
Another method for making biodegradable pots is to cut strips
of heavy paper such as grocery bags to match the height and
diameter of the pot you want. For example, a 2-inch -quare pot
would require a strip 2 inches wide and 8 inches long. Add
approximately 1 inch to the length for overlap. Glue the strips
in circles to form a bottomless pot. Fit these into a wooden or
plastic flat with sufficiently high sides to give good support
and fill them with soil.
Your wheelbarrow can support its own load if you add two small
wheels to the rear legs. Anchor a bar to each leg with a "U"
screw and bolts. Attach the wheels to the ends of the bar with a
bolt and washer on both the outside and inside of the wheel.
Modifying a wheelbarrow like this cuts down on the strain of
lifting heavy loads by letting you push the wheelbarrow.
Add garden record keeping to the list of New Year's
resolutions. Make a note of which varieties of flowers and
vegetables do best and which do poorly in your garden.
"Though an old man, I am but a young gardener."
-- Thomas Jefferson
Join "Garden Notes" and plan for Harvest
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