Early January 2025 Winter garden, seeds

Happy New Year! It looks like we are starting cold, real winter. For a gardener that means several things, woody plants are dormant, the ground is frozen, and it may or may not be pleasant to work outside. Just before the cold hit I went to my garden to see how it looked. Amazingly there is still spinach, and the remaining carrots were dug for use in a lentil soup along with a bunch of fresh parsley. Most of the garlic planted in late October has a few leaves that have broken the surface and will now rest until spring. Weeds took over this past summer so a huge project will be to rescue the pathways between raised beds by spreading cardboard then covering it with mulch. One wheelbarrow full of leaves was dumped on some bulbs to insulate them through the winter, I hope. Finally, buckets were filled with rainwater for my ever-so-spoiled houseplants, indoor heat speeds water loss in plants and they need a lot of watering in the winter. One hundred houseplants take about two gallons of water each day, so reserves get used quickly. Another fine activity for cold winter days is planning the spring garden and landscape plantings and catalogs are arriving. Planning for my 2025 garden starts in the fall since plants are rotated through the different beds to insure they are not planted where they were planted before. Since garlic gets planted early, its bed has to be chosen in September so it is cleared of other plants and can receive compost on October first and a little granular fertilizer soon after. Potatoes like a neutral to slightly acidic soil so the bed they will be planted in does not get a sprinkling of wood ash during the winter. My garden maps with annotations about germination and productivity are checked to see if there are any duds. The fun starts when I empty the refrigerator shelf full of seeds. It started with a few packets but now takes a whole shelf. Seeds of heirloom tomatoes are saved every year and they are put in the pile of seeds to be started indoors in March, along with peppers. Seeds are also saved from dill, successful squash, zinnias, and gourds. Most seed packets have more seeds than I will use in a year so after planting the packet goes into the refrigerator for another year. Seeds are sorted into those that tolerate cold and will be planted directly into the soil in early spring, and those that need warm soil and will not be planted until May or June. This year a friend gave me a gift of two dozen seed packets, some new vegetables will be tried. In sorting seed packets make sure you have seeds of vegetables you plan to plant, so you can order or find packets at stores. I found four packages of different varieties of spinach, only one with a date (packed for 2022), my notes say they germinated at different times and success, but all pretty much tasted the same. There are packages of seeds that may or may not get planted depending on room in the garden, It is something to play with when you can't go out. Have fun!