What’s going on in sustainability:

I’m sorry that our state has to be the bearer of bad news, but Phil saw his shadow, and this winter will last six more weeks. Although the science of such traditions can be called into question, we’ve had a pretty harsh winter up here in the northeast and it seems like a long road back to the growing season.

But there are ways to get back on your journey if you’ve gardened before and it’s the right time to start your journey if this is your first year growing. It’s all about getting your mind into the growing season , even if there is a layer of snow on the ground. And the best way that I find is to start looking at those seed catalogs and start a crop plan.

This past weekend my community garden members got together and had a “seed party.” Aside from it being just a nice way to reconnect over the winter, I think it was really helpful for rookie gardeners to not only start thinking about what can be grown, but to also get a glimpse as to the process that many gardeners employ to create their gardens. because process is the biggest part of a growing season. I’ve seen people plant tomatoes in August, pumpkins in September, strawberries in July and start kale in Feb. As an experienced farmer knows, all of those mistakes result in small, stunted tomatoes, big, dead leaves with no pumpkins, beautiful green leaves with no strawberries, and a Kale transplant that dies on the operating table. By looking at a seed catalog, you not only see what’s available in your zone, but you get a good feel for when planting should happen.

As I said, the growing season seems so far away. But if you want to have food in April, seeds need to be started by the end of Feb. Which seeds to start first are all part of the process. Obviously, it’s silly to start lettuce or spinach because they mature in 30 days and are better off being sown directly into soil two weeks before the last frost. And you can’t really start root veggies. However, you need to time your plants so you don’t have a kale plant mature in march when the ground is still frozen and the plant outgrows its container before you get it into the soil.

So as I said, have some fun. Invite some of your gardening neighbors over, some with experience, others without, go through a bunch of seed catalogs and help each other plan when crops should go in the soil. You may even want to see who’s planting what so you can set up barter.

As I always say, you only get out of the soil what you put in. So if you just throw random seeds in the ground, chances are you’ll be at Whole Foods in July. But if you give it some thought and have fun doing it, you’ll be out in that garden all summer, one big step closer to a sustainable life.

Heading to PASA tomorrow with the boys. Please look for a full report next week.

Until then, this is the note from the urban homestead.