🌻 Ostara Garden Preparations

Ostara is coming, and I couldn’t be more excited. I am the type of person that loves the springtime, that loves dirty hands and freshly planted herbs and seeds. There are a few things I like to do during this time, besides the typical spring cleaning that happens. I don’t know if I will get to everything before Ostara actually hits, but I will definitely try.


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Garden Preparation :deciduous_tree:

Since we are planning on moving, there won’t even be much preparation for me to do since the growing season here in Oregon is very short and typically takes place closer to summer. However, I do have some plants I can grow in pots that I can hopefully take with me. So, that’s going to be my garden preparation this year.

I already have some white sage seeds started in a pot and I’m hoping they will take off and sprout. I’ve read that white sage is an extremely difficult plant to get germinated and sprouted, but I’m going to try! I also have some lavender seeds somewhere, but I’m not sure if I’m going to plant those since they tend to grow very large.

If you are planning on planting anything this growing season, now is the time to prepare your garden plans. I know some people really understand the different combinations of plants to go into one area for the best harvest. Some people prefer to plan out their gardens before planting. Some prefer to just wing it. Whatever your style is, now is the time to start those preparations. Plant those seeds and get them sprouted. A good way to do this indoors is to use an empty egg carton, fill it with soil, and then put a seed in each spot that an egg would sit. Then you can section these out if you are planting many different seeds at once! Once they’ve sprouted, you can begin to put them in the ground.


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Tree Pruning :apple:

We also have several trees here on our property that need to be pruned before the peak of spring, and even though we are moving, it is probably a task that I will undertake to keep the trees from getting too big while we’re still here. We have a peach tree, a hybrid apple tree, and a crabapple tree. They produce fruit, but we also have a large problem here with bugs and other critters ruining our fruit. They were here when we moved into this home, so we just sort of let them do their thing and eat the fruit.

If you have trees, now is typically the time to prune them - especially if they are fruit-bearing trees. The reason for this is because you want to make sure that the dead branches that have less chance of bearing fruit are removed as well as any branches that are too young to bear fruit. Those branches take away vital nutrients from the branches that would be bearing the fruit, so it’s best to prune them before any leaves start budding.


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Soil Preparation :house_with_garden:

The land here in Central Oregon is definitely not optimal for growing anything and that’s because of the climate and the fact that most of Central Oregon is built on top of lava rock and mountain. So, the ground is really hard. However, if you are in a place that has good land or soil, now is the time to start preparing it for the growing season.

Mix your soil with fertilizer. Get the soil turned and loose. I like to water down my soil before mixing in any fertilizer or extra potting soil. I feel like this helps the mixture combine better, but that’s just a personal preference of mine. You also want to make sure that you have the least amount of weeds as possible. I know sometimes this can be difficult, especially if you aren’t using pesticides or if you’re like us and use planters that were used previously (seriously, we have no idea what some of these things are that sprout in our planters because of the previous tenants).


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Planting with the Moon :last_quarter_moon_with_face:

One thing I will definitely be learning more about after we move is planting with the phases of the moon. The Farmer’s Almanac is a wonderful resource for this if you haven’t heard of it already. Now would be a good time to start looking at the moon phases for the growing season and planning out when you are going to plant certain things. For example, the Farmer’s Almanac says that if your growing season is in March, then the 16th and 17th is a good time to plant any root crops, as they will do well. Looking at my Moon calendar, the 16th and 17th is the last quarter moon.


Do you have a garden? If so, what are the preparations you take to make sure it grows well?

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Awesome article!! Thank you!

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You’re very welcome!

My mom was bummed when we went to the store today because they had their tulips on sale but we aren’t planting anything this season. Our tulips that are already in our flowerbeds are starting to bud, though!

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No, I don’t but I want to start One

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No worries, Travis :blush: Gardens aren’t everyone’s thing. I’m sure you’ll find something else you enjoy!

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Hubby is on his way home with 100 little pads of grass. I know what we are doing this weekend. Lol!

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If anyone has ideas, please share. I have 2 sticks on my dining room table right now (hubby came home and said “I’m not even going to ask”. Lol!

I am going to tie some twine on them and hang dried flowers for wall decore. These sticks are special to me. They came from my 5 year old rosemary bush that was killed by our single digit freeze. Plants in Texas aren’t used to that.

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I think your idea for hanging dried flowers from them is a great one! :hibiscus: Then your rosemary is helping you with something else!

You can even keep one of the sticks on your altar as an invitation to the spirit of rosemary to take up residence on your altar. I believe that even the spirits of plants can be our allies and familiars sometimes.

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I posted my thing in the wrong place. Lol! I wanted to post under my dried flowers post. But thank you that is an awesome idea!

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oh lol it’s okay! I think it works here, too

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Yes ma’am it does! It’s a recycled garden in a bottle. Lol!

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I am planning a no till vegetable garden this year. I got the idea from “The Green Witch’s Garden” by Arin Murphy-Hiscock and started doing my research. I was so worried about digging up the ground and all that hard work. Not only will it save my back and time it’s better for the soil. I did get a Farmer’s Almanac for a planting guide and campion planting. I may try the three sisters, corn, climbers and squash planted together to support each other. This is the weekend I will be starting some garden projects.

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Ohh, a no-till garden sounds interesting… :thinking:

I may have to look into that one! Gardens are finicky here in my part of Florida, so I’m always looking for extra help and tips. We have a huge issue with weeds and fire ants – never mind the squirrels that live in the trees around my house. We have to have raised garden beds this year, or at least we’re hoping that helps. Last growing season I lost a couple plants because the fire ants made the roots their home and ended up killing my cauliflower, broccoli, and eggplant :sob:

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I would love a flower garden. I have tried so many times to grow plants flowers you name it but they never grow and either end up drying on me or once mold! I’ve tried for years. It’s so discouraging. No matter the type soil etc. even the orchids that you are supposed to put 3 cubes of ice weekly. So simple and I messed it up somehow. Any recommendations on a simple plant that are not cactuses?
Thanks all !

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We bought our house last year and my husband went through the effort of tilling a small section in the front yard so I could plant roses. When I say I was worried about them this winter, but they did a fantastic job of making it and have already grown back their leaves. I filled the section with potting soils and then about 4 inches of top soil and then a weed barrier with mulch on top. I added plant food made for flowers and garden insects about once a week and they bloomed beautifully. Then when winter hit I made sure to prune them back and I left the clippings in the flower bed so they could dry out and break down providing fertilizer over the winter. I think it made a huge difference and they are looking so good. Ostara is that time of year I do my spring cleaning because it refreshes the energy in my home and wakes it up from winter. I do this type of clean in the spring and then again in October right before Samhain, to cleanse the energy in the home for the winter.

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One plant that I’ve heard is really easy to grow and keep alive is a snake plant. I have no idea what it’s actually called, but we have one on my patio that has basically been neglected (it doesn’t belong to me and it’s complicated :sweat_smile:) and it has just flourished and not come close to dying :rofl: You may want to try one of those!

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Thanks!! I just placed order on Amazon! It was meant to be - 50 percent off! :smiling_face_with_three_hearts:
Keeping fingers crossed I keep this one alive!

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I’ve got my fingers crossed for you! Hopefully the snake plant is exactly what you need as an introduction to caring for more hardy plants :potted_plant: :sunflower:

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My son, 13 at the time, made a no-till garden. We put cardboard down and soil on top. We did have some old bricks around so we put those around as a fence.
It worked so well! Especially since the soil in the area was super soggy.


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I also want to try a straw bale garden this year. We shall see how that works.

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