“Don’t think the garden loses its ecstasy in winter. It’s quiet, but the roots are down there riotous.” ~RUMI
It got up to a balmy 72℉ today. On Friday the low is forecast to be 33℉. That is our Gulf Coast winter–schizophrenic–but mild enough still that we are able to grow vegetables year-round.
A lot of you already take advantage of some sort of “what to plant” calendar. My favorite is the one in the LSU calendar but you can sign up to get it as part of the GNO Gardening Magazine. It will tell you what to plant by month, often with the specific variety known to do well in our area. Many companies selling seeds have something similar on their websites, or in their seed catalogs. Two of my favorites are Johnny’s and Baker Creek. Johnny’s caters to the market grower and has an extensive grower’s library full of garden how-to. Baker Creek ships their seed for free and offers an impressive selection of the hard-to-find. They are a foodie’s dream supplier. They have free and paid versions of their seed catalog–both versions are full of wisdom, how-tos, and even recipes.
But what we planted at the apiary today was nearly 200 blueberry bushes. Some were replacements for bushes that died but most were new varieties we’re trying to see if well they do in our field. We put in rows of Prince and Alapaho rabbiteye bushes and replanted some Sweetheart that had died for some reason probably linked to farmer ignorance.
Our to-do list was short today:
1. Feed birds.
2. Collect eggs.
3. Feed bees if needed (it wasn’t)
4. Plant 200 blueberry bushes.
It was a satisfying day with accomplishment and a big project marked off the list.
Big Branch Apiary, LLC 