December Musings 2025

December greetings fellow gardeners and nature enthusiasts,

Although still fall, the last month of the year came on the scene with a roar, bringing with it abnormal frigid temperatures and snow. Doesn’t it just figure that these conditions would coincide with my scheduled December 2nd knee surgery that very day? Never fear, though, as my trusty and devoted husband would gladly turn inside out no matter the conditions to get me where I needed to be on time. Sure enough, he did.

Luckily, I had been paying close attention to the forecast, so December 1st found me scrambling to cut back difficult perennials, finish raking, then to prune the Christmas tree and get it inside before the upcoming storm.

Strawed in garlic

Just as importantly, I needed to cover my rows of garlic with all the straw I had on hand. I managed to get my preferred 6” applied, but fell totally short of what I needed to cover 2 rows of strawberries.

As I’ve mentioned before, deer will hoof through straw and snow to chow down on anything delicious that they’ve scoped out previously. They love my strawberry plants. Knowing that I couldn’t get back out again any time soon, plan B was to apply a heavy sprinkling of granular Repels-All and cover as much as I could with the partial bale of Lucerne (Mainely Mulch) and hope for the best. The main row is lightly covered, but the 2nd row has no cover at all.

Just because Mother Nature put the kibosh on the season for me, doesn’t mean it has to for you. If you, too, didn’t get a chance to cover garlic, it is not too late. Getting that 6” of straw down will help protect tender roots for the freeze/thaw cycles typical in our zone.

As you get out there to finish up a few of those last-minute chores, take time to observe the subtle and not-so-subtle changes as the seasons progress. Watch the birds, identify wildlife tracks in the snow. Listen to the silence in the woods as snow filters through the trees. So much is out there.

As we now immerse ourselves in the traditions of the season, I hope we open our hearts and minds wider to accept our differences, while at the same time to discover how much we truly have in common. I dream of a time when we can celebrate and join in on each other’s traditions. Let’s not let divisiveness win. Let’s come together and give peace a chance.

That’s it for now. Talk to you again in the New Year!

Judy