Got a year round gardening plan?

Planting certain fruits during the winter results in a home-grown, pesticide-free bounty during warmer months.

If you’re a true “green thumb,” the winter months may be challenging. This is especially the case if you live in a deciduous climate such as the northeast region of the United States. Seeing your beautiful summer garden suffocates under piles of fallen leaves is tough. An even worse fate is the inches or maybe even feet of snow. A simple year-round gardening plan takes a good look at your calendar.

If you want to keep your garden alive for all 12 months, consider planting certain fruits in the winter. Sunset Home Gardening Experts advise you to plant peaches, grapes, blueberries, cherries, strawberries, and apples during the cold weather months because these plants produce a pesticide-free bounty during warmer periods. When these same plants are raised conventionally, they tend to be the most pesticide-laden.

I thought you had to switch your focus to something other than gardening now that it’s December. — No way! Fall is the perfect time to plant bare-root stock of these trees and bushes. If you put them in the ground during the Fall, the strawberries will be ready for spring. Everything else will start production in one to three years.

More Tips On Planting For Each Of These Types Of Trees

To avoid peach leaf curl (a fungal disease that affects wet leaves) in damp climates, plant trees against a south-facing wall under an eave; also, be sure to prune the plants into a fan shape.

Regarding the grape plants you choose, stick with American varieties grown on their roots to avoid the mildew and root louse problems common to European grapes.

Birds prefer red, sweet cherries, so select a yellow-fruited variety if they tend to eat your crops, or be prepared to cover the trees with netting.

Apple Maggots and Codling Moth damage fruit, but you can control them organically with sticky traps and Spinosad. A general rule: Plants that get full sun, good air circulation, regular water, and organic fertilizer are least prone to insects and diseases. Winter is a natural time to spend less time maintaining the year-round gardening plan for pest control.

We know you are looking forward to your harvest. Planting in your garden is a show of your taste and culture. Our personal and political identity can be wrapped up in the items we decide to grow on our property.