The Moon was full on the third, last Tuesday. It was also fully eclipsed by the Earth’s shadow, a Blood Moon. Did you see it. I kept peeking around 3:30 that morning, waiting for the full eclipse; the Moon was red.
Now, with the Moon waning and temperatures more spring-like, it’s a good time to do your winter pruning of fruit trees. The winter prune is for establishing long-term structure. The “summer prune” which we covered in October, or was it November, is to encourage fruiting spurs to form, so two pruning times is what I’ve practiced for years: summer (fall) and winter (late winter early spring). Where we live, zone five, summer pruning happens in fall.
The general rule-of-thumb is to open up the structure of the tree for good light penetration, into the heart of the tree, and good air circulation. You don’t want to remove more that 30% of the tree. It can send the tree into shock, and the tree will start pushing water sprouts everywhere.
The waning Moon phase is a good time to begin preparing your planting beds. I usually put straw or leaves on in the fall and put topsoil from the compost pile on in the spring. I also put compost in tree wells and around shrubs.
We usually get manure this time of year and begin building another compost pile. I like cow better than horse. I think it has fewer weed seeds. My favorite manure to get is goat; very few weed seeds, a nicer consistency and it has more balanced nutrient levels.
All garden waste, throughout the season, goes into the pile. The idea is to treat your compost pile like a prized crop; keep it watered and in dappled light; stir it three or four times throughout the season, or not; lazy man’s compost works too, just keep adding to the pile and let it do its thing sans stirring. I don’t mind critters getting into the pile. They poop in it and help stir it.
We have two worm bins as well. One is a vermiculture septic bin, poop, green waste and kitchen compost go in and huge worms get to work creating worm castings and worm tea come out. I put them on potted plants and greenhouse specimens, fig and lemon tree.
The resurrection of Life is apparent everywhere in the garden; green buds, fruiting spurs swelling and little green sprouts popping up all over! The birds and chipmunks are growing in number as they revive from their winter slumber. We’re beginning to hear the Blue Grouse making his presence known. He makes a low, deep pulsing sound. Other harbingers include Robins, of course, and the chickadee’s sweet mating call.
I have my peppers and tomato seedlings on the windowsill inside. I’ve started scallions and leeks in flats in the greenhouse. The Ailsa Craig yellow onions made it through the eight-degree night two weeks ago. Ailsa Craig is a long-season, open-pollinated, long-keeping onion.
Michael’s working on a new rodent proof growing room. It will be ten by 17 feet with ½” hardware cloth floor walls and ceiling. Our first such room was created last spring, where we enjoyed bumper crops of beans, tomatoes, squash, cucumbers, crucifers, peas and herbs.
Buckle up buttercups. Spring is busting out all over! In the meantime, remember, time spent near a river or walking through a woodland helps you feel lighter and makes the world look brighter.
