Hands in the dirt: MLT garden tips for January

MLTnews welcomes this new monthly column by Robyn Rice from Ballinger Organic Garden.

From the outside, January seems to be a dream time for gardeners. The weather is terrible, the soil is cold and damp and little is actively growing. But inside January is busy, busy, busy. There are catalogs of seeds to explore, garden designs to draw and endless hot drinks to eat.

Plan to stay home for most of the month, as the only outdoor tasks we recommend are cleaning up the debris after our inevitable winter storms and watching what happens in the garden. Walking on muddy lawns can damage the soil structure. Therefore, try to keep the fallopian tubes to a minimum.

Now is a good time to clean and sharpen your garden tools. Season the wooden handles with linseed oil or the like to avoid cracks. Metal tools such as lawnmowers can be cleaned of rust with a vinegar bath overnight before sharpening. Don't forget to grease them later so that rust doesn't form.

Only a handful of vegetable seeds can be grown indoors under grow lights in January, and many gardeners keep seed settings in stock until at least February. Take this time to take stock of the existing seed packaging so that you don't have eight varieties of radish but no peas to plant next month.

Do you have any questions about gardening? Ask below or post it on our Facebook page !

About the BOG

The Ballinger Organic Garden (BOG) is a voluntary initiative to develop a community garden in Ballinger Park. The BOG is in collaboration with MLT Recreation & Parks and the MLT Senior Center and is currently funded with a scholarship from the MLT Community Foundation in "Phase 0", while the most important construction activities (electricity restoration and installation) Phase 0 comprises the maintenance of existing raised beds and a garden plot on the south side of the MLT senior center in Ballinger Park. In phase 1, a larger garden with available land for the community members will be set up. Would you like to volunteer or have an idea what you would like to see in the future garden? Let us know!

Follow us on Facebook ( facebook.com/mltbog ) or Instagram ( Instagram.com/mltbog ) to keep up to date with what's happening at BOG, including events, work groups and events.

- By Robyn Rice

Robyn Rice grew up in eastern Washington, removed weeds and picked rotten fruit, as the father of her gardener had asked for. Today Robyn is a fishery biologist at an environmental consultancy and has been working exclusively in horticulture in the Seattle area since 2010. His scientific training leads to endless research into the "right" way of doing things, but his enthusiasm and adventure will take her to the garden without fear, because hey, what could be worse?

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