Winter is a good time to start thinking about next year’s garden. I spend time perusing seed catalogs, turning over far too many page corners.
I’m trying to stick with heirloom seeds this year and ordered my seeds from Baker Creek Heirloom Seed and Seed Savers Exchange. I’ve never shopped with them before and I’m excited to see how my vegetables grow. How beautiful are these Purple Plum Radishes and Cherokee Purple Tomatoes from Baker Creek and this Lettuce Mix and Five Color Silverbeet Swiss Chard from Seed Savers?
Some people plan the layout of their gardens during the winter, sketching garden designs and planning their plantings. I haven’t created actual garden layouts, but I do spend time visualizing my garden and thinking about past gardens — what grew well, what was devoured by insects, what needed more or less sun. Here are some articles about planning and designing vegetable gardens:
- Garden Planning (Seed Savers)
- 20 Vegetable Garden Layout Ideas (Old Farmer’s Almanac)
- 7 Vegetable Garden Layout Ideas To Grow More Food In Less Space (Rural Sprout)
While winter drags on, we can appreciate the beauty of winter gardens dusted with snow:
- A fantastical topiary garden deep in the Somerset countryside — The topiary shapes and designs are so whimsical. (House & Garden)
- A 17th-century priory in France converted into a medieval-inspired topiary garden — The view of this house and its gardens with a dusting of winter snow is so beautiful (as are the gardens)! (House & Garden)
- My Winter Garden 2024 — Here are some photos of my yard this winter. (Sea Salt and Sailor Stripes)
There’s always the option of indoor gardening:
- Regrow Green Onions / Scallions from Kitchen Scraps: 2 ways! — I currently have a glass full of green scallions that grew from the remains of a bunch! (A Piece of Rainbow)
- 20 Vegetables You Can Re-Grow From Scraps — There’s something so rewarding about getting a little more from your vegetable scraps. (Rural Sprout)
- What you need to know to grow herbs indoors during winter — This article includes good tips for growing herbs indoors. I always overwater my rosemary! (Herbs at Home)
- Indoor Gardens — Creating an indoor garden is so satisfying. (Sea Salt and Sailor Stripes)
We can enjoy a taste of spring by forcing branches of flowering shrubs in late winter and early spring:
- Forcing Forsythia Blossoms – Bring a Little Spring into Your Home — Forsythia are easy to force and their sunny yellow blossoms are so cheerful. (Sea Salt and Sailor Stripes)
- Forcing Branches into Bloom Indoors — Here are tips for forcing branches and a list of shrubs and trees that you can force. (Old Farmer’s Almanac)
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