Winter Garden Tips

Winter is one of the best times to work on your garden! In the warmth of your home, it is time to dream and plan and take stock. While the overwintering broccoli and onions seem to be at a standstill under winter cover cloth, it is my habit to spend New Year’s Day pulling out seed catalogs and starting shopping lists for the coming spring. I review what my family actually ate and what crops ended up in the compost pile because we just had too much to even give away.

I ask my kids for input on their favorite things to grow and I let them circle some new things to try in our favorite seed catalogs. In my calendar, I usually add a weekly countdown to (estimated) last frost so I have a good sense of when I can start planting both cool weather and warm weather plants. I add important To Dos to the list for the next three months, pruning roses and dividing dahlias, starting tomatoes and peppers indoors and assessing whether we have enough compost to amend all the gardens or we need to source some from elsewhere.

Even if you are starting small, buying a couple of packets of seeds and adding a “To Plant” date to your calendar is a great way to hit the ground running once the weather turns toward spring.