You are probably thinking it is too soon to think about the garden for next spring! Or, you may be browsing seed catalogs with no thought of going outside. Let me suggest a mid-winter chore that will help make your life easier next summer!
Go outside and turn the garden dirt over! If you live where the ground is frozen right now, wait until a mid-winter warm spell. However, if it is winter where you live and the ground isn't frozen solid, January is the time to take care of this chore. It really isn't necessary to get out the tiller, you can do it by hand. It doesn't have to be perfect!
What this will do is bring up to the top of the soil all the bugs and bug eggs that are over-wintering six to eight inches down. They like it down there. It is warm and their chance of surviving the winter is good. Bringing them up to the surface of the soil before the next hard freeze will help kill them. Exposing them to a hard freeze will wipe out the eggs of many different types of bugs!
When will you notice? Next summer. Your bug population will be significantly less if you turn over the soil now. That will help to eliminate (or at least greatly reduce) the need for pesticides on your garden next summer!
Try it! It really works!
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