Gaia's Garden Wisdom, Imbolc 08
By Basira Nickle
Silver City, New Mexico
Gaias's Garden Wisdom is a new seasonal column for the www.hidogs.info web site. My name is Basira Nickle. I am one of the founding mothers of the High Desert Organic Gardeners group. I have been gardening for 64 years. My dad helped me plant a victory garden in a vacant lot next door to our house in Hollywood, California. I was eight years old. And I have to admit it was a dismal failure. My short attention span and lack of water did it in. Ten years later, I married and began serious large scale gardening as a way to feed our poor but growing family. In the late 70's I discovered Biodynamic/French Intensive gardening at the Integral Urban House demonstration garden in Berkeley, California. And I met John Jeavons and read his book How to Grow More Vegetables Than You Ever Thought Possible On Less Land Than You Can Imagine, now in its 7th edition.
These two things revolutionized my gardening practices. Around the same time I found another definitive book, The Findhorn Garden and began my association with the Devas, Nature Spirits and Elementals, the nature intelligences of the garden. In the late 80's I read Square Foot Gardening by Mel Bartholomew and again refined my gardening process.
Gardening has become my spiritual path. February 2nd is Imbolc - also known as Candlemas or Lady's Day. It is a pagan fire festival and one of the cross quarter days. Brigid is the Celtic Imbolc Goddess. It is the day for washing the Earth's face. And in our region, it is the first day of Spring. It was a day of making and breaking of marriage commitments which in ancient times only last a year at a time.
It will soon be time for the first outdoor planting. Around February 15, weather permitting, you can begin planting peas, lettuce, kale, chard, spinach, other greens and carrots and green onions, beets can go in March 1st. Consult our Suggested Planting Dates on this web site.
While cleaning up the garden beds last week I discovered about a pint of fingerling potatoes in perfect condition. These were a second crop that grew after I harvested the main crop in last summer. I didn't think the plants had had time to make potatoes so I just ignored them and the frost killed them. After this discovery I think it might be worth a fall planting of potatoes to be left in the ground and harvested as needed. The ground in my raised beds does not freeze and I have had good luck leaving carrots and beets in the ground all winter. Why not potatoes too? Definitely easier than a root cellar.
Indoors, under lights and with a bottom heater on Jan 21st, I planted petunias and snapdragons from saved seed and they were up Jan 28th. Since the 90's I have used the Stella Natura Biodynamic Agricultural Planting Guide and Calendar available at www.stellanatura.com or 610-469-9686. This calendar works with the cosmic rhythms of both the moon and the planets. It offers more precise and frequent planting times specific to leaf, flower, fruit and roots than the usual moon sign planting books offer. It also supports biodynamic agriculture. I highly recommend it.
I love sharing my knowledge and experience with other gardeners new and old. I hope you enjoy the column. I will be writing these articles regularly, timing them with Gaia's holidays. I am available for questions, comments and consultations at 575-538-5034 or basiranickle@gmail.com Look forward to hearing from you.
Blessings, Basira
P.S. Contact Anaia at anaiasong@gilanet.com if you are interested in ordering the Stella Natura calendar - there is a huge discount if we order more than one at a time, and we save on shipping costs too!
--
|