From Across the Field: 1/09/2020

Winter Happenings

It’s finally starting to feel like winter as the wind has gotten cold over the past couple of days. School is back in session, folks have made their resolutions, and the Buckeyes are no longer playing football; so bring on meeting season! After the first of the year things seem to ramp back up as we progress past the holidays. We continue to plan for Northwest Ohio Crops Day and the various other programs scheduled the first quarter of the year.

Speaking of resolutions, I prefer to call them goals rather than New Years Resolutions because many people tend to let “resolutions” fall through the cracks. When developing goals, the key is to write them down! As we start the year it is a good opportunity to take a few moments and set some goals for our gardens, farm operations, 4-H projects, or businesses. In a business management course I took in college they taught about goals that are S.M.A.R.T: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Timely. I think those criteria are applicable to most of our farm operations.

The next few columns are typically the toughest ones of the year trying to come up with some good ideas or suggestions, however, I have come up with a few. First, if you have houseplants in the home, increase humidity which will help plants and maybe even make us itch less. Many will keep a pan of water on a heat register or there are nice humidifiers that will help.

Would you believe there are things that you could still be getting out of your garden? If you were growing them, you could still be harvesting overwintered kale and brussels sprouts. On the other side, if you have high tunnels which are like unheated greenhouses, it is almost time to seed tomatoes for early high tunnel planting. This is just an example of the potential for year-round gardening.

Of course, this is the perfect time to browse seed catalogs, create a garden map making sure you rotate crops, then it is almost time to order herb seeds and seed varieties that will be in high demand this year.

If you kept some garden seed from previous years or from last year’s plants, you may want to test germination of some of the seeds. If germination is a little low, just plant more seeds. If a small percentage germinates, consider getting new seed.

Finally, my last mention of the holiday season. If you want to keep your poinsettias for another year, now is the time to cut them back to six inches and place in a sunny window. However, finding a sunny window may require taking the plant to Florida, and not the one in Flatrock Township. I’ll end this week with a thought from Peter Drucker: “Follow effective action with quiet reflection. From the quiet reflection will come even more effective action.” Have a great week..

Upcoming Events

1/23 Beef Quality Assurance
2/7 NW Ohio Crops Day

Garth Ruff,

Agriculture and Natural Resources Extension Educator

OSU Henry County Extension

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