Gardening in the winter looks much different than in the summer. Over November we rest. In December, we read and dream. In January, the dreams are shaped into plans and garden beds cleaned (if possible). February is the month to get serous.
In February, we start the majority of our seeds indoors. This year especially, with the arrival of our first baby just after our last frost date. The plan is to start all our seeds in February, plant the cool season crops outdoors in March, and the warm season crops outdoors in April.
Winter gardening indoors
Rest
Most of winter gardening happens indoors as the nature scapes outside go dormant for a few months. This time of rest for nature is a good reminder that we too should follow a rhythm of rest once a year. Most people take a vacation, other’s visit family or plan a stay-cation. Whatever your preference, rest is a good things and necessary for nature and humans.
We just had another good dumping of snow this weekend. As I’m writing this, beautiful crystals of fresh snow is showering down over our already white landscape. Nature is surely getting another cozy blanket of snow to rest a little longer.
Reading
Reading other gardeners stories, tips and tricks is what keeps the winter garden exciting for me. We rest, but we also use this time to learn what worked and didn’t work for other gardeners.
Planning
Last month, we sketched a rough plan for our garden layout this year.
Since our growing season is too short for heat loving crops like tomatoes and peppers, we give them a head start inside. Since most of the gardening in winter takes place inside, we start seeds in our indoor greenhouse (or cabinet really). My husband made a seedling grow house in an old dresser, you can read more about it here.
Seeds to start in February
In a normal year where we aren’t expecting a baby, the seeds we would start in February include Peppers, Onions, Kale, Spinach, Snapdragons, Poppies and more. Find the February Master List here.
Potting up plants
When we start our seeds early in February, there is usually some potting up happening by the end of the month. This year, our snow peas and chickpeas grew so quickly! We separated the seedlings and gave them each their own pot to make nest in. This should allow the plants to keep growing over the next couple of weeks until we transplant them outside. Learn how to know when and how to re-pot your seedlings and stay in sync with them as they grow.
Surprises (weather attacks)
We had another big dump of snow (only mildly surprised), which caused our arch trellis to collapse in half!
The tomato arch trellis was built with T posts, cattle pannel and pic pipes. Thankfully, the pvc pipes held in most places, only 3 cracked and broke. Two of them we should be able to repair with the tape, but the other 1 will need some more intervention. At least most of it is up and standing. Watch the full update below.
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