Despite the fact that it has been in the 60s in NJ this week, it is still winter and I won’t be able to be out in the garden for a while. But that doesn’t mean that there isn’t work to do to prep for the garden now. I have a list of things to do this winter to help me prep for the summer garden and to help me grow as a gardener. Keep reading for what I am doing now to garden prep in the winter.
Disclaimer: Links in this post are Amazon affiliate links, I earn a commission from qualifying purchases.
Organize seeds and take inventory
I have a small collection of vegetable and flower seeds and I have purchased a few more this year. Before this winter, I had no system for organizing my seeds, so, I was losing track of what I had and I could never find the seed packet I was looking for. There are a lot of options for organizing your seeds online. I ended up using a photograph storage box.
The photograph storage box is a large box, about 14 by 11 inches, with 18 smaller photo boxes that fit inside. The outer box locks securely, so my toddlers have not been able to open the box. I am using each of the 18 inner boxes to hold seeds packets. I like that in the summer I will be able to take just the smaller inner boxes with the seeds I need outside to plant in the garden. Also, if a seed packet ends up opening up, the seeds will be contained in the inner box and will not make a huge mess.
I am still in the process of labeling each of the small boxes using my label maker. Here is a link to Amazon for the photograph storage box that I am using.
Take a look at how nice it looks!
I still kept forgetting what seeds I had already purchased, so I took some time and actually created an inventory in my garden journal. If you don’t have a garden journal, now it a great time to start- check out my post here about keeping a garden journal. You can create your journal in a simple notebook like I did.
Purchasing More Seeds
Well, I did purchase some more seeds. I had been eyeing up the Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds catalog and website for some time, so I finally placed an order. I tried to limit my purchases right now, because I have a few nurseries in town I want to check out. But, I have wanted to order from Baker Creek for some time so I couldn’t resist one cold NJ day to dream about the garden and purchase some seeds.
I ended up purchasing from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds:
- Purple Cauliflower
- Pineapple Tomatoes
- Kyoto Carrot
- Echinacea
- Strawflowers
- Bachelor’s Button
From Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds, I also received a Japanese Wasabi Radish seed packet for free withy purchase. Without a doubt, I will be planting these radish seeds this year!
Save those containers!
Last year I started seeds in yogurt containers I had saved all winter. I’m doing the same thing this winter. Luckily my kids eat a lot of yogurt, so I will have a good collection of containers when I start planting my seeds indoors. Additionally, I have been saving larger plastic containers to winter sow.
Attempts at Winter sowing
I have never attempted winter sowing before. I don’t have any advice, as I just planted some seeds in a milk jug and some plastic food containers I saved. I planted lettuce and kale seeds and hopefully will have some success. I will hopefully have some success to write about.
Read. Read. Read.
I have used this winter to catch up on some reading. I am trying to learn as much as I can during this down time.
My favorite book, so far, is Epic Tomatoes: How to Select and Grow the Best Varieties of All Time by Craig LeHoullier (Amazon Link, here). This book has a ton of information in it, it easy to read and is just beautiful. The pictures in this book are amazing and made me excited to grow more tomatoes. I learned so much about the history of tomatoes and different varieties of tomatoes. This is one of the few gardening books that I have picked up that I can just read through- it is more than just a reference book, it is a good, entertaining read. I highly recommend this book.
I have wanted to learn more about herbs and the many uses outside of just cooking. So I picked up Jekka’s Complete Herb Book by Jekka McVicar (Amazon Link, here). This book is a good resource that I enjoyed reading.
And of course, I go back to one of my favorites, Square Foot Gardening by Mel Batholomew (Amazon Link, here). This is another book that I can read entirely through from front to back, many times. It is an enjoyable read which inspires me to want to garden more. This year I am going to work on more succession planning based off of what I have learned from this book.
If you have any must reads about gardening, leave the book in the comment section!
Garden Prep in the Winter- winter is a busy time!
It may be the down time for gardening here in NJ, but I actually have been busy learning, preparing and planning. I have filled several pages of my garden journal sketching out my garden and garden expansion. As I write this post, I am planning out which seeds to start planting indoor under my grow light. The winter can actually be a pretty busy time for gardeners!
Disclaimer: Links in this post are Amazon affiliate links, I earn a commission from qualifying purchases.
If you enjoyed this post, keep reading:
How to Get Rid of Fungus Gnats
Meal Prep for Beginners Part 1
Best Lessons From the Garden
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