GROUNDHOG DAY

Well, the first month of the year is over, and as winters from the past, it was not unpleasant. The perception was down from the average but in this winter in Missouri, we received one (1”) inch we will be thankful.  Like a lot of times Mother Nature comes back on the first day of February we have already gotten one half of an inch (.5”).

Today is what my father called a great holiday. No, it is not really a holiday but he would talk about as he felt it was the coming of spring. He also knew he would have to start plowing to get the garden ready for the rest of us to plant.  There is a great article in the ‘Farmers Almanac’ telling how any why ‘Ground Hog’ Day came about.

http://farmersalmanac.com/weather/2015/01/26/groundhog-day-almanac-say/

No matter what the ‘Ground Hog’ predicts the almanac states that we will have snow and cold through the March.  Well with that said there will be times to do gardening, how do I know this? The low for February is -5 degrees (1980) and the high is 62 degrees in 1986. What this means is on the warm days get out and remove all the dead vegetation from the garden. Trim trees and especially your fruit trees. Remove any potential insect trouble spots where insects have been in the past spray with dormant oil before they get hatching in the spring. Do not put on any chemicals on your driveway to remove the ice that will harm the vegetation.

Once again Happy Groundhog Day and Good Gardening.