No picture, just a word picture of what it means to be ready to move when conditions are right. In the Pacific Northwest our winter barely holds down the typical job description of that season (unless you count the potential personality-distorting effects of too much rain), and it’s likely to skip into spring at any time pretty much from February 1 on. Of course any foray into spring will certainly be followed by a substantial retrograde motion back into winter slog (until June…the nerve!), but as a gardener one must be ready for these windows that open. This morning as I passed the garlic the weather was fine, maybe a balmy 48 with sun, and I had 15 minutes to spare. The only thing that kept me from putting down some fertilizer was…lack of fertilizer. By afternoon the weather was cruddy again, plus I got busy, so garlic goes on the back burner until the next open window. Know what I’m going to have on hand before the next window comes? Some high-nitro bloodmeal, feather meal, or even some sacks of composted manure – garlic yummies at the ready for when nature next gives the call. Tools sharp? Seeds ordered? Supply of potting soil? Greenhouse cleaned out? It can all be made ready.
