Gardening Tips and Highlights

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Winter activities

for gardeners      

by Christine Yesko

I know winter is not a Gardener’s favorite season.  It’s nice to regroup after the holidays, take some time to relax, make plans, and dream about my future garden.  But, I’m definitely the most content when I can get outside and get my hands dirty.  Here are some fun projects we can do to get us through the winter.   

Plant an indoor herb garden:  It’s nice to reach for fresh herbs you are growing on your window sill, if nothing else, to smell the different aromas plus adding them to your meals.

Work on your garden journal or garden planner:  You can find garden planners and organizers online and print them out to plan for next year’s project of new flowers or vegetables.

Make plant tags:  Again, there’s plenty of information online, plus this would be a great project to include your children, and it could just start a future gardener.  Make a seed storage box, we all could use this project, a place to keep all our seeds we have now and intend to buy.

Try winter sowing:  This is a project I am trying this winter.  All you need is a couple of clean empty milk jugs or deli containers. You cut them in half leaving a section to make a hinge, then you put soil in the bottom, plant the seeds and water.  Have some way of marking them as to what you planted, then tape with duct tape the jug closed, leave the cover open, and put it into a place where it’s protected from the wind and in sunlight. For direct instructions check out online for “Winter Sowing”.  You wait till spring when the time is right for seeds to sprout, then you open the containers and transplant seedlings into the garden when it gets warmer.

 

Nothing is more comforting than sitting with a cup of coffee or chocolate while it’s snowing outside and reading a gardening book.  Knowledge is something we all can use and can get some new ideas for our gardens. Still remember to think spring.

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