It’s cold. It’s brown. It’s winter… Depressed that it’s not warm and sunny and you’re not outside enjoying your garden? Turn that frown upside down and as we take our minds off the chill and prepare for warmer, sunnier days…
First, take a walk.
Do a little walk-through and assess your home and garden.
Make notes about what you see and what you’d like to see.
Envision how you might be able to compost or conserve energy (Better weather stripping? Sun panels?), reduce your water usage (Rain barrels?) and recycle more.
For example, did you recycle your natural Christmas tree? If not, you could make a note to do that next year.
Next, do a little cleaning.
Take a good, hard look at your garden tools, the ones you use a lot and the ones you use every now and then.
Rinse off any dirt, then give them a good scrub to get rid of any rust, sharpen the blades and then carefully rub mineral or vegetable oil on the metal so they stay rust-free.
In fact, fill a bucket or a pot with sand mixed with the oil and store your tools there where they’ll be protected all winter.
Give yourself the taste of summer.
Basil, anyone? If you don’t have an indoor herb garden, now would be a great time to plant one.
Not only will it make you happy, it’ll taste like summer sunshine.
Learn more about the whats and hows for growing an indoor herb garden.
Dream big.
Want to rework your existing garden? Or even plan for a new design?
Now’s the perfect time to find inspiration photos, whether on Pinterest, online searches or gazing through gardening books and magazines — dream of ways to make your garden better.
If you’re not pinning your inspiration online, print out pics and create a concept board to keep you inspired.
Plan small.
It’s all in the details! And now, when the seed catalogs are hitting our mailboxes, it’s a wonderful idea to curl up on the couch and make a list of all you need to get started in order to grow the flowers and veggies you want this year. By the way, the National Garden Bureau has declared 2021 the “Year of the Sunflower.”
Finally, just add music.
Nothing makes our hearts feel better on a dreary, grey day than listening to songbirds.
Attract more of our feathered friends to your garden with plants that have seeds and berries, as well as places for insects and water and nesting.
And don’t forget to keep your feeders full of bird seed. (BTW, if you need a feeder or two, or some bags of seed, we know where you can find all that.)
Don’t be glum, chum! Come visit us at Reston Farm Garden Market for supplies and inspiration.
While it may be winter, you can still have garden tools clean and ready, fresh herbs for the picking, a garden plan to dream about, and the happy sounds of songbirds!
