Even though skies are gray these days, gardeners on Whidbey Island are itching to get outside and work their soil.
That was evident Monday night when Central Whidbey farmer Linda Bartlett was greeted at Coupeville Library by an audience that was larger than she expected.
Two rows of chairs soon became three, and then tables were added in the back of the room to allow for a total of about 40 people to pack in and listen to Bartlett talk about what people can do now to prepare for the gardening season ahead.
One of the first things Bartlett advised to eager gardeners ready to bundle up and start digging is to tread cautiously.
“You can do more harm than good by jumping into your soil too soon,” Bartlett said. “The hardest thing is patience, but it really pays off.”
Bartlett, who operates Rosehip Farm & Garden along with partner Valerie Reuther on Fort Casey Road in Coupeville, said working saturated soils too early can result in adverse consequences. She said wet soil that gets compacted can resemble a hard clump of cement when it dries, making land difficult to till.
Bartlett said a good test to see if your soil is ready to work is to dig down about 6 to 8 inches, grab a hunk of soil and squeeze it in your hands. Then toss the soil ball in the air about 6 inches and catch it.
If the soil stays in a clump, it’s not ready, Bartlett said. But if it crumbles apart into finer pieces upon landing in your hand, that’s a good sign it’s time to prepare your garden beds.
“To know when to start, and when not, is an important part of spring,” Bartlett said. “Unless you’re in a sandy area, there’s not a lot you can do now (with your soil).”
Barlett’s appearance is part of a series of talks being held at Coupeville Library this month with the focus on agriculture.
The third and final speaker in the series will be Coupeville farmer Wilbur Purdue on Feb. 23. Purdue, who owns Prairie Bottom Farm, will talk 5:30-7:30 p.m. about farming within Ebey’s Prairie.
Leslie Franzen, managing librarian at Coupeville Library, said the library is diligent about choosing topics that reflect community interests and figured offering a series early on gardening was getting ahead of the curve.
“Gardeners get excited in the winter about getting ready for spring,” Franzen said.
Bartlett, whose small farm produces organic fruits and vegetables, shared her farming wisdom and tips on a wide range of topics. She talked about the best seed catalogs to order from, the best cover crops to use to keep soil from being bare in winter and how floating row covers keep out bad bugs.
And she dug deep into the topic of compost.
“If you take nothing else away from tonight, know that compost is your best friend.”
Before Bartlett’s talk ended, listeners learned how beneficial it was to test their soil and about a nearby company that would test it for a reasonable price.
She advised vegetable growers to try succession planting so all of their plants wouldn’t mature at exactly the same time.
For those wanting to get outside now, she advised pruning apple and pear trees but waiting for blooms to prune stone fruits such as plum and cherry.
Bartlett got plenty of attention when she talked about tent caterpillars, which plagued Whidbey in 2014.
She said she’s already started noticing egg cases on fruit trees, mostly on last year’s growth, and roses and has begun removing them.
“Tent caterpillars are going to be bad this year,” she said. “They tend to come in cycles.”
Bartlett also will speak at the Whidbey Gardening Workshop, which is set for March 7 in Oak Harbor. To learn more, go to www.whidbeygardeningworkshop.org
