Planning & Prep
As we inch closer to spring, preparing your soil and garden space while planning is a great way to get ready! We have a nice collection of garden books, seed catalogs, and information to help you plan out your dream garden space. To get an early start on the garden, try Starting Seeds Indoors! If you plant by seed, consider Soil Blocking, a sustainable and easy way to get your seedlings growing. We have plenty of Seed Starting Supplies available online and more in store. Bare Root Fruit Trees are available while supplies last in our outdoor nursery. We are expecting bare root fruits like strawberries, raspberries, edible currants, and more to arrive in February. Also due to arrive mid month are onion bunches! Look out for Candy, Patterson, Redwing, Ringmaster, and everyone’s favorite…Walla Walla! Plan ahead and expect organic seed potatoes and blueberries coming in March!
Planting
Check out What to Plant in February to see what can go in the ground and what can be started from seed this month! Late February is generally a good time to plant pea seeds. We have several varieties in packets, and some bulk varieties, as well as legume inoculant and trellising supplies. Check out more information about Planting Peas. Consider planting an herb garden this spring to reap the benefits of fresh herbs throughout the growing season. Many are perennial and you can grow them year after year! Learn more about Growing Healthy Herbs. Late February is a good time to plant asparagus crowns. Plant your crowns in a permanent location- they can produce for 10-15 years! Check out more info about Planting Asparagus.
To get a jump start on starting your seeds or for extending the growing season, consider building cold frames to protect plants from cold temperatures and winds. A cold frame is essentially a bottomless box, and have a transparent roof. If constructing your own, untreated hardwood works best. You can top it with repurposed glass or a frame with clear plastic. No time to build? Old milk jugs can be used- cut the bottom off and mound soil around the sides. Take the cap off the top for ventilation on sunny days.
Garden Critters
The coming of spring heralds one of our lovely local pollinators, Mason Bees! These solitary, non-aggressive bees are a great addition to the garden, and are crucial for early spring pollination. We have bee shelters and supplies. Mason bee cocoons will be arriving later this February! Support pollinators by planting a Bee Friendly garden, and avoid pesticides whenever possible. If you must use them, read labels carefully and apply when bees are not active in the area being treated.
The ubiquitous slugs and snails will soon become an unwanted visitor in your garden beds. They can be hard to control, as they hide very effectively under garden debris and anything lying around the yard that provides dark, moist, and cool conditions: debris, boards, plastic containers, etc. Setting up traps, using copper barriers, or using Sluggo can help ward off these hungry pests.
Garden Maintenance
Late winter is a great time for pruning trees and shrubs. Wait for a dry, mild day for best results. The bare branches show you a great visual of where to prune, and when trees are dormant they are less likely to lose a lot of sap from pruning. Pruning allows you to target dead, diseased, or broken branches. The dormant season is a great time to prune raspberries as well. For more info, our friends at the OSU Extension Service have put together some great pruning information.