The winter lawn is still dormant and late February is the opportune time to feed the lawn and give it a wake-up boost before spring arrives. Do not use 10-10-10 fertilizer on the lawn because the lawn needs to be fed, not fertilized. Fertilizer should not even be considered a garden fertilize simply because it is more chemical than it is organic and takes too long for its pellets to absorb in the soil. It may cost more but purchase specially formulated lawn food designed for lawns and designed to feed when it needs special nutrients. It may cost more but provide long-term results. Use pellet lime in February so that snow and ice precipitation can soak the pellets down into the soil and not wash it away. There are certain lawn foods prepared just for southern lawns. If it is possible, pick a day before snow is in the forecast and apply lime and lawn food. Lawn food is name just that: food! When you purchase lawn food, always remember you get what you pay for.
Start garden year with packets of radish
It’s still cold, but as long as the soil is not frozen, the cool weather vegetable packets of radish and lettuce can be sown in February. Both of these vegetables are tough enough to withstand cold temperatures even if you have to place a plant cloth over the beds. Most of the packets say the maturity dates are 45 to 50 days but we would say it’s most likely 55 to 60 days, but a cold weather vegetable harvest in 60 days sounds great in cooler weather. A bed will produce all the radish and the lettuce you will need without taking up much space and time. Prepare a bed and make a furrow about three inches deep, apply a layer of peat moss and mix in a layer of Plant Tone organic vegetable food. Mix the peat moss and vegetable food and sow the seed. Apply another layer of peat moss and hill up soil on each side of the furrow and tamp down with the hoe blade. Gently water once every week. If a hard freeze is predicted, cover with a plant cloth.
Keep windshields and wipers clean
Winter snow, sleet, and ice can be tough on wiper blades and windshields when snow and ice cover them plus the salt and flush. Keep plenty of de-icer and washer fluid on hand as well as glass cleaner. Use the vehicle’s defroster and allow the automobile to warm up before beginning the job of clearing the windshield and wipers. Clean the snow from the rear and side windows as well as side-view mirrors. Pull the blades of the wipers back and wipe them with glass cleaner. Keep a bottle of windshield washer fluid on hand and refill it with washer fluid every week. In freezing weather, use de-icer fluid in the washer.
Time to prune fruit trees, roses, grape vines
During late February the fruit trees, rose bushes, and grape vines are dormant and easily visible to see where they need to be pruned during their dormant cycle. Pruning promotes growth and makes production much better as well a neater appearance, beauty and harvest.
Spraying fruit trees and vines in dormant oil spray
February’s last days are dormant days and with trees still dormant and bare, they can be sprayed with dormant oil spray to prevent insects and pests. Pick a calm dry day with no rain in the forecast and no wind to blow the spray around. Spray from the bottom to the top of the trees until they look shiny with glossy spray.
Crown jewels: A halo around the moon
The nights of February are cold and when the moon is full or almost full and the upper atmosphere is cold on a clear night, the moisture in the upper air forms icy crystals that resemble a halo around the moon. This beautiful sight forms a diamond-like circle completely around the glowing moon. If the night is clear you can see visible stars inside the “halo” of icy crystals. My Northampton County grandma and mother counted the visible stars inside the moon’s “halo.” Both my grandma and my mother differed in their forecast. My grandma predicted that visible stars inside the “halo” were the number of days before a snow fall. My mother’s forecast was the number of visible stars were the number of inches of snow that would fall. Whether both of them were wrong, they both marveled at the wonder of a glowing “halo” around the moon and the math with it.
Heart-shaped leaves on Saint Valentine’s
One green vegetation on the edge of the winter garden is clumps of the American Violet with clusters of glossy green heart-shaped leaves that put on a show for Saint Valentine’s Day. The sign of the heart is surely in the leafy heart leaves of the violet.
Making a Valentine congealed salad
Saint Valentine’s Day is a colorful time to prepare something red for the holiday. This salad is plenty red with strawberries and strawberry Jello plus the tartness of crushed pineapple and the sweetness of miniature marshmallows. For this recipe, you will need one regular can of crushed pineapple (drained), two cups boiling hot water, one three-ounce box strawberry Jello, one cup miniature marshmallows, one quart fresh strawberries, one envelope Dream Whip, one teaspoon strawberry extract, eight ounce cup of sour cream. Heat the two cups of water to boiling, add Jello and dissolve, then add marshmallows and allow them to melt into the Jello. Add the crushed pineapple, sour cream, strawberry extract, and Dream Whip by instructions on box, beat until stiff and add to Jello mixture and set aside. Cap the strawberries and cut into quarter-sized chunks and add to other ingredients. Pour into a bowl, tube pan or mold and refrigerate until set and firm.
The garden list of February things to do
It’s still cold, but there are cold weather vegetables that can be started as we edge toward the mid-point of the month. Onion sets are now appearing in the hardwares and garden centers and as long as the garden soil is not frozen, a row or bed can be set out. Use a layer of peat moss to cover the sets before setting the onions and apply Plant-Tone organic vegetable food before covering the sets on both sides of the furrow and tamping them down with the hue blade for solid soil contact. Other vegetables that are tough enough for the month are radish, lettuce, and Siberian kale. Cover the planting furrows of these planting rows with a layer of peat moss, sew the seed, then add another layer of peat moss on the seed and then apply a layer of Plant-Tone organic vegetable food and hill up soil on both sides of the furrow. Later, as February comes to an end, Irish potato rows or beds can be prepared to set out seed potatoes. Mid-February is time to prune fruit, grapevines and rose bushes. Rose bushes can also be planted. Lawns can now be fed and limed, use plant covers to get things off to a great start. Cover onion sets with crushed leaves.
Hoe hoe hoedown
Natural death! All the chairs in the medical waiting room were filled and some patients were standing. At one point the conversation died down, silence filled the room. During that silence, an old man stood up and said, “well, I guess I’ll go home and die a natural death.
Love potion number nine: Never be kissed by a fool and never be fooled by a kiss!
A thin sandwich. Customer: “Waiter, will you bring me another sandwich, please.” Waiter: “Will there be anything else?” Customer: “Yes, a paperweight, my first sandwich blew away.”
Homemade coffee break: The trouble with laying out of work is you have to drink coffee on your own time!
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