The Powwow Guy

I know it's only mid-January, but here in Southcentral PA we have to begin preparing for Spring!

Today, Josani and I spent several hours cleaning up our property, removing the muck and leaves from the flower beds, etc. Normally, it would be advisable to keep the leaf cover as a protector for the winter that is probably going to come our way between now and March 31, but our property has a water drainage issue, which means water pools and collects in various areas, making swamp-like conditions. In an effort to reduce the collection of water (from snow and/or rain) we clear away as much ground mess as possible in January. This allows the water to drain and also flow through a few homemade trenches further away from our property.

In addition to this cleaning work, I've also begun the process of mapping out our vegetable and herb gardens!

This coming Spring, I'm converting a flower bed into the new herb garden. The vegetable garden this year will only be above-ground veggies, as we never have a good yield of below-ground things such as potatoes, onions, etc. In preparation for this, the compost that is in the garden now will be raked into the soil within the next few weeks so the nutrition gets a little deeper, allowing our future veggies to have a strong and healthy foundation on which to grow.

Winter in my area doesn't fully hit us until February and March. By then, it's important to have our ground prepped for work once the Spring comes. Once things are cleaned up and raked thoroughly, fertilizer will be put down. Once we start to get our winter rains and snows (not much, but we do get some) in February and March, that fertilizer will get to work on making things nice and healthy for planting to begin in late April/early May!

As a Powwow, it's important to know when the best times are to work with your land. Every area and region is different. What works for my land may not work for yours, and that's OK. A Powwow knows his/her land and seeks to work in harmony with it to gain the most benefit from your mutual relationship.

May God bless you in all that you do!