Don't you just love that lovely soft blanket of white that undulates over your lawn and garden plots? Doesn't it just bring winter joy to your soul?
Okay, maybe not. Maybe you're one of the people who sees winter as a long season before the only real important season comes along. You call the good season "Growing Season."
In either case, there is plenty you can do for your garden now, in the winter conditions many of us find ourselves in, that will help your garden get a head start in the Spring.
COMPOST
That's right, you can compost during the winter. In fact, winter is a prime time for composting. This is because when temperatures reach below freezing outside, interesting things happen to vegetable matter. In fact, the tissues in tough vegetable stems and stalks freeze up and then lose their toughness.
A case in point of this fact is the frozen vegetables that we get in the store. You know how you can open a bag of frozen broccoli, steam the florets to serving temperature and tenderness, and then enjoy them? Have you noticed how broccoli prepared this way has a far different consistency from fresh broccoli that is steamed? This is because freezing the broccoli simply changes the molecular make-up of the stems.
So toss your broccoli stems, your squash rinds, your old carrots and such into your compost. Or you can even just toss them into your garden plot. They will get covered up by the snow and won't be an eyesore. If you don't get snow, just remember how wonderful your garden is going to be after feasting on all that organic matter over the long winter!
PLAN
During the last growing season, you probably found some things you wanted to do differently when planting season rolls around again. Winter is a prime time to plan your garden. You can measure things, draw up a schematic and even stake things out if you want to go that far.
I've enjoyed doing this, as I can usually fine tune the layout of my vegetable and flower gardens.
Speaking of flower gardens, winter really is a great time to plan your future award-winning plot. My wife and I like to research different kinds of annuals that will bloom at various times in the spring and summer. With all the time we have in the winter, we can plan a garden that will be constantly blooming in at least one area.
SEEDS
Once you have your garden planned, you will probably find yourself with more wintertime on your hands. So go online and start researching seeds! You will find plenty of places that sell all sorts of heritage seeds and others.
One gardening friend of mine spends months choosing which types of tomatoes she is going to plant come growing season. Last year she planted a striped variety.
STARTS
As winter wanes, you can get your seeds started in order to be able to get them in the ground when the weather warms up. Be sure to get the right kind of supplies and also make sure you have a window that will get plenty of the bright winter sun, but that is still warm.
Then as the weather warms, you can harden off your flower and vegetable starts and then put them in the ground!
All in all, the die-hard gardener can still enjoy the winter. What's more, your garden will do even better in the next growing season if you have nourished and planned it well.
Technorati Tags: Organic Gardening Tips winter spring compost seeds vegetables flowers nourish winter gardening gardening
Okay, maybe not. Maybe you're one of the people who sees winter as a long season before the only real important season comes along. You call the good season "Growing Season."
In either case, there is plenty you can do for your garden now, in the winter conditions many of us find ourselves in, that will help your garden get a head start in the Spring.
COMPOST
That's right, you can compost during the winter. In fact, winter is a prime time for composting. This is because when temperatures reach below freezing outside, interesting things happen to vegetable matter. In fact, the tissues in tough vegetable stems and stalks freeze up and then lose their toughness.
A case in point of this fact is the frozen vegetables that we get in the store. You know how you can open a bag of frozen broccoli, steam the florets to serving temperature and tenderness, and then enjoy them? Have you noticed how broccoli prepared this way has a far different consistency from fresh broccoli that is steamed? This is because freezing the broccoli simply changes the molecular make-up of the stems.
So toss your broccoli stems, your squash rinds, your old carrots and such into your compost. Or you can even just toss them into your garden plot. They will get covered up by the snow and won't be an eyesore. If you don't get snow, just remember how wonderful your garden is going to be after feasting on all that organic matter over the long winter!
PLAN
During the last growing season, you probably found some things you wanted to do differently when planting season rolls around again. Winter is a prime time to plan your garden. You can measure things, draw up a schematic and even stake things out if you want to go that far.
I've enjoyed doing this, as I can usually fine tune the layout of my vegetable and flower gardens.
Speaking of flower gardens, winter really is a great time to plan your future award-winning plot. My wife and I like to research different kinds of annuals that will bloom at various times in the spring and summer. With all the time we have in the winter, we can plan a garden that will be constantly blooming in at least one area.
SEEDS
Once you have your garden planned, you will probably find yourself with more wintertime on your hands. So go online and start researching seeds! You will find plenty of places that sell all sorts of heritage seeds and others.
One gardening friend of mine spends months choosing which types of tomatoes she is going to plant come growing season. Last year she planted a striped variety.
STARTS
As winter wanes, you can get your seeds started in order to be able to get them in the ground when the weather warms up. Be sure to get the right kind of supplies and also make sure you have a window that will get plenty of the bright winter sun, but that is still warm.
Then as the weather warms, you can harden off your flower and vegetable starts and then put them in the ground!
All in all, the die-hard gardener can still enjoy the winter. What's more, your garden will do even better in the next growing season if you have nourished and planned it well.
Article from Jared Garrett - http://www.helium.com/user/show/45690
Technorati Tags: Organic Gardening Tips winter spring compost seeds vegetables flowers nourish winter gardening gardening
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