January 2022
Hello, and a very belated Happy New Year. So far this year we have had quite a range of weather, some extremely mild days that feel and smell almost like spring, but in contrast, there have been bitterly cold days where the outdoor thermometer reads single digits and the wind cuts through every layer you’ve got.
While spring is still far off, January and the start of the new year fills me with hope. The days are starting to stretch out, there are many garden jobs to be done on good days and there is all the planning and dreaming of the garden to be done.
I spent the first few days of the New Year taking stock and planning: out walking in the garden, taking inventory of the root cellar and chest freezer, looking over my tools and most excitingly, going through and organizing my seeds. I relish the task of looking over and sorting my seeds, as well as flipping through a stack of my favorite seed catalogs, planning out what I will order for this year.
I find that because I love plants and seed starting, I can end up with a lot of seed packets, both from seeds saved to seeds purchased. My rule of thumb is I keep everything that is 1-2 years old, it is still likely to have good viability (there are exceptions of course). 3-4 years, I will mostly keep (unless upon examination I don’t think they are viable, or I just didn’t love that variety), but prioritize using these this season, and not expect great germination. 5+ years and I force myself to compost or feed to the chickens. I also feel guilty, like I am wasting, but my chickens would be a differ.
But whatever January throws our way, there is some much to get out and do and enjoy, so make it part of your daily rhythm to spend time out in your garden, even just sitting in a sunny place for fifteen minutes and you will be amazed at all you will notice that you hadn’t noticed previously.
Stone Sculpture
I have been working on my on a few stone sculpture pieces this month for an art show at Gordon College that will take place mid February. It is a group show, feature a handful of students with a few of us showing alongside them as their mentors. I will be working down to the deadline, but what artist isn’. It has been a treat to break out the chisels, mallets, and such to work on these pieces, Johnny and I are always looking at finding more and ways we can work with and use the stone as part of of our designs and it is fun to play with some smaller scale ideas. I will share a few pictures of the work on one of the pieces but if you are interested in seeing the show, the opening reception is 4-6pm on February 12 at Barrington Center for the Arts at Gordon College, Wenham MA. I believe the show will be available to be viewed by the general public between February 12 and February 26.
Planning the Veg / Cutting Flower Garden(s)
If you haven’t yet, take some time over the next few weeks an order your seeds. I would recommend first going through what you have, review your notes from last season and just reflect on what you grew, what worked, what didn’t and why, what did you love growing, what wasn’t worth it for you, what did you wish you had more of, etc. Take a little time to think through last years garden as you get ready to plan for this upcoming season. And then don’t delay, order you seeds! A few seed companies that I like to order from… Pinetree Seeds, Annie’s Heirloom seeds, Johnny’s seeds, High Mowing Organic Seeds and Baker’s Creek Heirloom Seed Company, but there are many other great ones as well.
Now there is truly only so much time, and I have found that it can be very helpful to draw out your plot, specially if you feel you really need to restructure your plot / garden or if you are trying to determine how many of what things you will grow or if you are just new to garden and you need to have a plan to orient yourself around. But, on the beds where I have been gardening for year now and are established in their shape, I just know how many things will fit where (although also plan on extra so you aren’t short if something happens and you don’t have great germination or you have some other crop failure), and I take lots of pictures of the garden, so I can reference those as to what was where and what did well and what I like visually and practically. So I find I don’t necessarily draw out my annual beds every year, but I will for new spaces or space that I am reworking. But I will again say, I have already draw and created the larger structure of the spaces / beds and I like a bit of freedom as I work within the framework I have given myself. So, if it helps you garden, or it brings you joys as you plan out the growing season, then get out the graph paper and pencils and have at it! It is much much easier to correct errors on paper than errors after plants are going in.
Feeding the Birds
One thing we do religiously now is feeding the birds. Each year we add more feeds, create temporary feeding tables, to set out food for the overwinter bird population. And I can’t express enough how much life and joy it brings to see the birds in and about the garden, they bring so much energy; from the way the house sparrows come in mass and frantically argue about who gets what feeder, or the mated pair of Northern Cardinals that stop in and try to eat and mind their own business due to those crazies house sparrows. Then there are the handful of Dark-eyed Juncos, they hop over from under the yew hedge and they too keep a bit away from the house sparrows, who seem to intimidate them. There are also the tufted titmice, who I personally love, and the White Breasted Nuthatches, both preferring the sunflower seed tubes over the mixes. There are often a few chickadees popping in and out, over to the feeder and back to the hedgerow and the back to the feeder again. And of course there are the Bluejays, which are enormous birds compared to all the other and when they are they they rule the garden. A few times, I have looked out my window to see a small downy woodpecker, hanging upside down on the feeder.
The key thing to remember is to keep setting out bird seed, they will keep returning to find food and they will waste precious energy looking if there isn’t food where they expect it. I keep a five gallon bucket with a lid on it round the side of the house to make it easy to top off feeders or at some onto tables or other flat surfaces.
There are so many other jobs you could be getting on with in these last few weeks of the month, and for ideas you can check back on Februaries Job list from last year, but enjoy your garden and surround landscapes, don’t let the cold keep you indoors, bundle up!
On another note, I am rethinking how I might structure blog post, and I am curious, what do you want to see… if you have a minute, let me know what content would be interesting to you, it could be one of the below, all of them, some of them or something I hadn’t even thought of. Cheers!
