Photos by Lee Stewart
HARVESTING THIS MONTH’S CROPS AND WHAT TO PLANT NOW BY LEE STEWART
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t’s February, the month of love, and one of my favorite months of the year! February is not only my birth month, but it is the time that the season begins to make way for spring. The warm rays of sunshine provide confirmation that springtime is just around the corner. The light warm temperatures are a wonderful gift to gardeners! February is a wonderful month to be preparing your yard, patio or balcony for your springtime planting. It is the ideal time to get your space, soil and irrigation ready for the wonderful spring planting that is just beginning. Picking fresh fruits and vegetables packed with 100% nutrients straight from your own backyard, patio or balcony has so many benefits. Hopefully you have been harvesting some of your winter crops, such as different varieties of kale, spinach, snap peas, Maryann peas, and other various vegetables. Likewise, you may have had the opportunity to create some wonderful warm stews with the harvesting of your carrots, Chinese cabbage and bok choy.
WHAT TO PLANT NOW You should also be continuing to re-seed some of the varieties of vegetables. The beat can continue when you reseed your beets. So, turn the beet around, because that is one of the many vegetables that you can continue rotating through your garden. The middle of February is also a good time to be sowing
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greenliving | February 2020
your seeds for cucumbers, melons, cantaloupe, corn, and the wonderful watermelons. Yes, who doesn’t love a juicy watermelon when the temperatures begin to climb! Most citrus fruits like lemons and oranges are ready to be picked now. It may be a good idea to take and share the fruits of your labor with co-workers, friends or family instead of letting that wonderful citrus drop to the ground to rot, or even attract the dreaded roof rats. There are even food banks around the Valley that will accept any citrus.
IDEAS FOR CITRUS CROPS One of the other wonderful things I do at the Veg Up Get Dirty urban farm is juice our fruits. We love juicing the oranges and lemons and then freezing them for future use. I like to take my lemons and juice them into ice cube trays. It’s a wonderful way of making lemonade drinks for the summer months. I also take my citrus peels and boil them in a huge pot to help clean the air naturally. It provides a natural beautiful aroma and fills your home with a wonderful citrus scent. February is one of the months when you should be fertilizing your citrus trees. You want to fertilize them around midFebruary—so around Valentine’s Day is a good landmark day to keep in your calendar for fertilizing. Before you head out on your Valentine’s date, give your citrus tree some love. Deciduous and bare root trees can also be planted this time of the year. greenlivingaz.com
