2015 Gardening Season: Closer and Closer, Every Day

Hello all -

There is snow on the ground and below freezing temperatures in the air, so why on Earth would I choose today to update the EHCG blog?

Well, while the world outside is not yet ready for the beginning of the garden season, the EHCG committee is already working to organize Opening Day 2015, the Seed Fair, and the plant sales. We have gardening on the brain, and honestly this is a great time of year to start paying a little more attention to our personal horticultural plans for the coming year.

I've said before that it pays off to start planning the plot out early, and I usually start around late January or early February. An early start means that you have time to find seeds, buy or build structures, map out companion planting, read up on permaculture, get re-acquainted with the seasonality of the crops you wish to plant, and even build a weekly calendar to help keep you on top of weeding, watering, and the maintenance of your crops come May.

But don't take it from me, take it from Robin Mittenthal, a previous chair of EHCG and expert gardener. He wrote a fabulous introductory manual to organic gardening, oriented geographically to south-central Wisconsin, specifically Madison. This manual provides an overview of organic gardening, and has guidelines for plot preparation, planting, maintenance, weeding, pests, and more. This is a great resource for starting gardeners and a nice refresher for those of us with some experience as well.

Take some time to get into an EHCG state of mind, and keep an eye on these upcoming dates:

Opening Day

March 28

Official start of the 2015 EHCG Season

Plot assignments will be posted

Orientations will be given at both EH and UH gardens

Seed Fair

April 11

Free seeds for registered gardeners

Workshops for seed-starting

Orientations will be given at both EH and UH gardens

Cool Weather Plant Sale

April 19

Cool weather plants will be sold at the EH site

Plant list TBA

Warm Weather Plant Sale

May 17

Warm weather plants will be sold at the EH site

Plant list TBA

Think warm, sunny thoughts!