Tiny Seedlings
Last weekend, I started a few flats of seeds. One of spicy micro greens, one of cilantro, one of a mix of lettuce, and one of arugula. They all germinated quickly and are growing nicely. The light stand is located in my office, which is COLD. In fact so cold one morning that my computer wouldn’t come on.
I had plans to be growing greens and cilantro under the grow lights all winter, I just never really got around to it. Perhaps next winter I’ll do a bit better and actually be harvesting a few salads a week from the indoor garden.
Perhaps if I kept it a bit warmer these little guys would grow a bit faster, but I’m not really in any rush.
Are you growing anything edible indoors?
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The Garden In Winter
I’ve been thinking more and more about the garden winter. As I look around outside, I notice things that add structure and interest to make the garden shine in this dormant season. My two favorite things this winter are the trellises I left in the garden (usually I take them in) and the ornamental grass.
Both are adding much needed interest in the winter landscape. The boxwood hedge out front adds some, not as much as the one around the garden will when it’s filled in and trimmed to neat boxes. Overall, the winters get better and better as I add things specifically for interest in the winter months. Even small things like pruning a shrub or small tree in a very specific way can add some much needed interest in the dead of winter.
What’s one of your favorite ways to add winter interest in the garden?
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Getting a Head Start
This weekend, I started four flats of seeds! YAY!!! My plans were to have flats of greens going under the grow lights all winter, but I never got around to it. On Saturday, I managed to get three flats of green and one flat of cilantro going.
For some I used soil blocks, but for others I just put soil in the flats. I’ll see which ones works best for this method of growing.
While I had the kitchen table turned into a potting bench, I decided to make a few flats of soil blocks to have ready for seeding. Last year, as I sowed seeds, I kept thinking it would be handy to have flats of block already made for quick seeding.
Now I have a nice little stockpile of flats of blocks. I managed to make three large flats and four half flats of soil blocks. I thought about making more, but decided I’d better see how this works before investing too much time this early.
Did you manage to get any garden related things done this weekend?
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Friday Favorite: Garden Photos
This time of year, I love looking at photos from my garden. Not only do I enjoy seeing photos from this past summer, but from previous ones as well. I like to sit down and look at how the garden is evolving, what’s changing, how plants are growing and filling in.
I like to look through photos of each garden area and clarify my goals for that space. Looking at edges, deciding if plants need moved, if pathways need adjusting, if retaining walls need built. Now that I’ve lived here for 5 years now, I’m planning windbreaks and other things that will not only look great in the summer, but help with drifting during the winter. Photos of the garden are a valuable tool in not only planning, but it seeing how much we have accomplished. Often I find myself looking at the garden in the summer and feeling like I haven’t achieved nearly as much as I want. But when looking at photos I can see exactly how far it’s come.
Are you in the habit of photographing your garden? Do you look at the photos more in winter than summer?
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Holiday Feasting
This past weekend we didn’t do a lot. Since our families both live back in Ohio, we travel back at Thanksgiving and celebrate Christmas at that time. That leaves us with a very low-key holiday on our own. Typically, we spend the time with our neighbor’s, but the all had the flu this year, so we stayed away. That means we spent our days reading, eating, plowing all the snow from the blizzard, eating, watching movies, and eating some more.
I made Swedish cardamom rolls, which have been a favorite since our trip to Sweden last year. They just might become a new holiday tradition, we enjoy them so much more than cookies. For Christmas dinner we roasted a duck, one of our Muscovies that we raised and slaughtered earlier in the years. The majority of the sides came from the garden as well, which certainly makes Christmas dinner a meaningful meal.
Eating is a big part of our holidays, which is the way it should me. Food can be such an important part of our lives and celebrations. Perhaps since we don’t have lots of parties and lots of gifts, we notice the food part of our holidays more. Either way, food is such an important part of holidays, we wouldn’t have it any other way!
What are some of your favorite holiday foods?
