If you don’t want to garden in the winter, and want to be ready for spring, this is a great time to take care of all your garden tools, and to make a check to find out what is needed so that you can prepare accordingly. Take this time to plan your garden and order the seeds you want to plant. Just plan and get ready for spring and summer gardening.
The wonderful article written by Barbara Damrosch on the website, Mother Earth News, shares many tips for the gardener.
[su_quote]
Winter gardening is surprisingly easy. The pace is slow, weeds are few, and low light levels cut down on evaporation and can even eliminate the need for watering from mid-November to mid-February in most areas of the country.
Try lots of crops to see which work best for you. With each, start with the least protection you might need (some crops may surprise you), and then decide how accommodating you’re willing to be. Experiment with timing to find a rhythm that works, putting in new crops wherever you see an empty space. Make lots of compost to give your crops an extra boost. Also, keep in mind that you should fear heat more than cold. Remember to vent cold frames, quick hoops and greenhouses on sunny days, lest you trap hot air inside and then prematurely “cook” your greens.
Keep an eye open for new varietal entries in this ever-growing field. Johnny’s Selected Seeds, High Mowing Seeds and Territorial Seed Co. have many of the best varieties. Some of the most exciting seed breeders in the country are at work improving winter crops, and they’re doing so in a way that avoids the narrow base of most modern genetic breeding.
As Navazio points out, these improvements help with variability of climate from year to year. The result of seed breeder Frank Morton’s brilliant work can be found in his Wild Garden Seed catalog. Find organic farmer Brett Grohsgal’s wonderful varieties — bred by subjecting crops to cold outdoor conditions in Maryland — in the catalogs of Fedco Seeds and Southern Exposure Seed Exchange. Uprising Seeds, Adaptive Seeds and Siskiyou Seeds are smaller, innovative companies to watch.
And for the best adventure of all, save seeds from your own top-performing plants, year after year, until you’ve tailored each crop to the winter conditions in your garden. (You’ll find seed-saving advice for many vegetables in our Crops at a Glance Guide.) You, too, may well turn out to be a winter gardening pioneer.[/su_quote]
To read the entire article go to MotherEarthNews.