Winter Tasks for Gardeners

Anyone who does any gardening knows how long the winter months seem when you are dreaming of your next garden. It seems as if the warmer times will never come. The weather that is favorable to gardening seems as if it is too far away. Here are a few things you can do to help pass the time between gardening seasons.

Planning your gardening plots is always a good idea. This is especially true if you are going to try something new. Decide where each type of plant will be placed. Keep in mind what will grow well together. For instance, you do not want to plant anything next to hot peppers that will cross pollinate and become hot themselves.

Another enjoyable task that can be done during the winter months is to peruse seed catalogs. These will begin arriving sometime in the first few months of the new year. These catalogs usually supply requirements for growing conditions that will help in the planning of the next growing season. Knowing what is available will help you plan your garden. You might even find something new to try.

The gardener also needs to decide which plants will be grown from seeds and which will be grown from seedlings. There are some plants which are difficult to start from seeds, such as the herb rosemary. Think about what you will use when you are deciding which vegetables and herbs to plant. Do you use a lot of basil? How about peppers? Are you going to try canning this year? What spices will you need for those recipes. There is quite a bit of planning that goes into the successful garden.

Check your supplies and tools so that you will be ready for the coming gardening season. Do you have any seeds left over from last year? If they are more than a year old, they may not germinate. After you have decided which plants to grow from seed you can decide what left over seeds to use and what new seeds you need to order or buy from the gardening section of your nearest store.