Submitted by Terry Twigg.
(March 28, 2020) — In this chaotic spring, starting a vegetable garden can calm your soul and feed your family—and if you plant extras, you can make a difference for your friends and neighbors who may be having an especially hard time.
But trying to work in mud will only ruin the soil structure, so wait to dig until a handful of soil, squeezed, makes a moist, crumbly ball, not a clay-ey lump. Early April is still too chilly to start most vegetables outside, except maybe peas. But now is the time to start seeds. Even those that are so-called “cool weather” plants, like lettuces, are more likely to succeed if you start them indoors and then transplant. Tomatoes and peppers definitely benefit from an early indoor start—if the soil isn’t warm enough, they’ll just sulk. Or, worse, rot.
If you’ve never grown seeds before, an excellent free online resource can be found at Fruitionseeds.com. Click on “Resources” and sign up for their “Seed Starting Academy.” These generous folks usually charge $98 for the course but are making it available at no charge.
About seeds: At this writing, it’s not clear whether the usual sources for seeds will be open for business. If you can’t buy seeds, call your gardening friends. Most of us buy a packet of seeds but then only plant a few, and will be more than happy to share the leftovers.
And when it’s finally time to plant, it’s vital, more than ever before, that we all make native plants the focus of our flower gardens.
Why? Very simply, because native bees, insects, butterflies and moths depend on them for food. Many people have heard that the beautiful monarch butterfly caterpillars can only eat milkweed, but they don’t realize that there are many other creatures dependent on a particular plant family. Bugs evolved together with plants, and they can’t simply move over to the latest fancy imported flower. Your yard may be a showcase of gorgeous shrubs, annuals and perennials, but if they’re not native, it’s a desert. Moreover, some of these creatures, especially bees, need something in bloom all season long, from the first warm March days until the cold returns. www.portal.ct.gov/-/media/CAES/DOCUMENTS/Publications/pollinators/Sample-List-of-Native-Wildflowers-for-Bees-through-the-Season.pdf?la=en
Many of these bugs are small, humble, grey or brown beings, not flashy like the monarch, but their young are the ONLY food for baby birds. No bugs or caterpillars, no birds. And they’re taking a beating: from climate change; from habitat loss; from pesticides and herbicides; and from the deaths of so many of our native trees. We need to do what we can to help them out. That doesn’t mean sacrificing beauty: there are many colorful natives to choose from, and all are likely to be easier to care for than imports. For a list of suggestions, see the list of Best Wildflowers for Bees posted with this blog on the Haddamgardenclub.org website. Take the list with you to your favorite nursery. If enough of us ask, they will stock it.
One other, crucial step to take to protect insects and caterpillars: TURN THE LIGHTS OUT! Most night-flying insects and moths live for only a few weeks. That’s all the time they have to find mates and produce the next generation. But if they spend the night circling your porch light, it’s all over. Please, if you feel you must have one, at least put it on a timer. Better yet, install a motion sensor. It matters.
And need I add, avoid pesticides or herbicides. If you can’t grow something without dousing it with poison, does it belong here?
One flower in particular has special value for bees: the sunflower. Their pollen helps bees resist parasites and some diseases. Sunflowers are native to the Americas, easy to grow, and come in all sizes. And what’s more cheerful than a row of bright yellow sunflowers? You could even plant the really big ones in a circle, to make a living playhouse. If you want to grow yours from seed, be sure to choose varieties that produce pollen–many have been bred to be pollenless. Avoid those, and also avoid the very fluffy ones: even if these make pollen, nothing can get at it through all those petals. If you want to buy your plants already started, the Garden Club will have lots to choose from at the Tag Sale in May.
As I mentioned earlier, this column is written several weeks before publication. As I write, we are all facing a lot of unknowns. Whatever happens this spring, I urge all of you to take steps to:
- Keep tabs on your elderly neighbors, and make sure they have everything they need—and don’t forget that loneliness is as debilitating as hunger. Bring along a garden bouquet.
- Every time you go shopping, be sure to buy a few extras for the food pantry. Our friends and neighbors need our help now more than ever.
- Go outside! Even if you’re not a gardener, you can’t help but feel happier and more optimistic when you walk through the woods or across the lawn, unplugged, listening to the breeze in the trees. Given half a chance, Nature unfailingly lifts our spirits. Right now, we all need that.
