Time to Get Outside and Get Dirty

Spring is here. Time to get outside and get dirty. First things first, do not plant any warm weather crops in the ground. It is still much too early for that. But, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be out in the garden.

Around here, the weather seems to have warmed up. The snow has gone, even that hard-to-melt patch in the front. The madman has his thermometer in the ground. Every morning, I get a weather update: temperature in the back, temperature in the front, temperature in the greenhouse, and temperature in the ground. Interestingly, the soil temperature varies in different parts of the garden. That stands to reason, the snow in the lower front was the last to go.

Temperature

In our garden, it’s too early to work the soil. We’re sure you have heard this term – “plant as early as the ground can be worked.” So, what does this mean? At one time the madman felt ground was workable as soon as the snow was gone – remember, this is the man who always had to have the first of everything – a bunch of crop failures changed his mind.

If It Sticks Together, Drop It

If your soil is too wet in the springtime, the particles will have a tendency to stick together. Take a handful of soil and squeeze it in your fist. If the clump stays together when you open your hand, drop it and walk away. If you dig in it at this point, you can ruin the structure. The wet soil particles can stick together and harden into a solid mass, blocking oxygen from reaching the roots of your future plants. Workable soil will fall apart. Remember, you can’t grow vegetables on concrete – unless it’s kale; the madman says kale grows anywhere.

Soil Test

While you can’t work the soil, you can get dirty by digging up a few scoopfuls for a soil test. And the madman did just that, taking soil from several areas and mixing it together to get samples that represent the entire garden.  So, we sent the samples off to UConn. We say the same thing every year – test your soil. Some gardeners test it in the fall, but we prefer the spring and we do it every year.

We all know that our plants thrive in good soil, but how will we know if our soil is good unless we test it? The soil test results from UConn will let us know what’s in the soil, but also will tell us how to make it better. The madman can’t imagine how he ever gardened without a soil test. Penn State has a good article on the importance of soil. Read it while you are waiting for your test results.

Check Tools

With the soil test out of the way, there are other things we can do. After all, time marches on and one of these days the soil will be workable. Time to check the tools, especially if, like the madman, you didn’t get to it over the winter.

This year we had a surprise when we looked at our tools. Somehow, he forgot that he had broken his favorite long handled cultivator, and we had a crack in the handle of our workhorse shovel. Thank goodness for the internet and curbside pick-up. The rest of the tools will be cleaned, oiled and sharpened before the season starts in earnest.

Still in Maintanence

While we are in maintenance mode, we’ll wander through the garden to see what else needs done. We’ll make our first pass with our noses in the air. No, we’re not snobs, we’re just looking for any branches that will steal sunlight. If we have to remove any, we can do it before the leaves show up.

After that, we’ll admire the spring bulbs as we check the condition of the beds. Any part of the structure that is damaged will need to be repaired or replaced. It’s too early to clear the dead stalks and garden debris from my flower beds. Once the weather warms to a consistent 50˚, we can be pretty sure that native pollinators have hatched and moved on. When I do the clean-up, I will resist the temptation to grind everything into compost in case there are any stragglers. Luckily we have a spot in the back where I can just put the cutbacks.

Another task that has to wait for warmer weather is the irrigation system. This is an integral part of the madman’s 2021 garden resolutions: water more. We’ll inspect hoses and make sure all our watering containers are without holes. We’ve already noticed some hose couplings that need reconnected and there are probably holes in some lines – we’ll find those when we connect the water.

Drinking Water For the Birds

Speaking of water, we made an interesting observation last summer: a lot of our backyard birds would use the ant moats on the hummingbird feeders as drinking fountains. So we left the moats up all winter – the Black-capped Chickadees (Poecile articapillus) seemed to appreciate this. Because of this we decided to move the birdbath out much earlier this season, and, while we were at it we moved out our comfy patio chairs. On warm sunny days we can sit and observe the comings and goings in the back. We noticed Brown-headed Cowbirds (Molothrus ater) at the feeder. These were soon followed by Red-winged Blackbirds (Agelaius phoeniceus). The migratory birds are on their way back.

More Activity

But, we have also noticed changes in the local birds. The woodpeckers, and we have several species, are spending more time on the suet feeder. The madman suspects they are stocking up on protein for nesting. The Carolina Wrens (Thryothorus ludovicianus) are busy looking for a nesting spot – the madman already had to convince them not to move into the greenhouse.

American Goldfinch

The other day, the madman pointed out a spot of yellow in our spruce tree. The American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis) has donned his summer colors, a welcome harbinger of warmer weather. In our yard, these finches hang around the feeder all winter. It is hard to tell the males from the females because their coloring is similar, a drab brown. But sometime in late winter or early spring, the male sheds his drab colored feathers for the bright yellow and black summer outfit. The madman has never noticed a transition, they always seem to appear bright yellow one day.

Although the male Goldfinch sings his lively “Po-ta-to-chip” song in the spring, pairs don’t nest until midsummer, much later than most other birds. This stands to reason because of their diet which consists mostly of seeds. They prefer the seeds of composite flowers, like sunflowers and zinnias, which aren’t edible until late summer. We have lost many a beautiful zinnia as the Goldfinch pulls off the petals to get to the seed. At one time, we thought they were ripping into the flowers to get at the bugs, but, being strict vegetarians, they’ll only eat a bug by accident.

Hummingbird

We can’t talk about the birds without mentioning our favorite migratory bird, the Ruby-throated Hummingbird (Archilochus colubris). The madman usually has his first sighting around May 1, but likes to have to feeders up around now just in case an early hummer passes by. The feeders are cleaned, filled and waiting. We keep a regular watch on Journey North so we have a good idea when we should expect them. We also keep an eye on the storms along their flight path as winds and rains can hamper their flight.

            So, now we’ll play the waiting game. Wait for the migrators to come; wait for the soil test results to come; and wait for the soil to be truly workable. But, workable or not, the madman will get his peas in.

            And, I will make hot cocoa.