A Year of Gardens - Day 6

It's winter in Tennessee. It's finally raining in California. It's been snowing in Washington non-stop. It's crazy cold in Chicago and New York.  Shoot, it's even cold in Texas! What's a gardener to do?
Here's my top five tips of things to do this month when the winter blues are wearing you down:

1. Take inventory of your garden tools, clean them well, and sharpen them. My buddy Martha Stewart has a good short video on that subject called How to Clean and Sharpen Gardening Tools. (A tip she is passing on just in case you land in prison and someone hides a hack-saw in your birthday cake.) For more detail on cleaning, check out University of Vermont's Dr Leonard Perry's "Cleaning Garden Tools" article. 

2. Order seeds and plants from all the catalogs that are filling your mailbox. Some of those unique plants sell out quickly so order now for delivery later. A few of my favorites: Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Co., Brent and Becky's Bulbs, Botanical Interests Seeds (btw - they have a super fun coloring book you can download for grownups or kids based on their seed package covers! perfect for a snowy night by the fire), Plant Delights (true confession - I have every one of their catalogs from the last 10+ years...), Renee's Seeds (her website is chock full of great info), and Lee Valley Tools. There are plenty more great catalogs so feel free to chime in with your favorites!

3. Visit local garden centers and see what they have growing in their greenhouses or shops, talk with the folks there about what you are looking for in plants, supplies - like more Crescent Garden planters and outdoor garden items ;), or events you's like them to have, tell them how they have helped you in your gardening, buy a gardening gift for a friend. I'll have a later post on great garden centers that I am discovering.

4. Find out if your state universities have a trial or test garden and you visit it. (Check out yesterday's post.) And thank your extension agent for their hard work educating the masses.

5. Go to a garden show or seminar. A few of my favorites are the Calloway Garden's Southern Garden Symposium, Northwest Flower and Garden Show, San Fransisco Garden Show, and Nashville Lawn and Garden Show.

And here's a pretty picture because that what is expected on a gardening blog:

My friend Helen Battersby beautiful garden

A Year of Gardens - Day 4

One of the trends that I am seeing in new gardeners is a desire to grow something that has a purpose. They want to grow food rather than flowers, flowers that will be used to decorate their home or dried for art projects, or herbs for medicinal purposes.


A few days ago I received Gardening for the Homebrewer by Wendy Tweten and Debbie Teashon to review from Voyageur Press. My first thought as I flipped through it was, "How timely for the going trend in gardening." My second thought when I looked at the front of the book again was, "I'm glad I'm not having to introduce Tweten and Teashon after tasting a few of their home brews." I'd definitely make a mess of those two last names!

The book is very practical and written with good horticultural information. Each product to grow has it's own inset with growing information and how to use it in brewing.
My favorite part, though, was the "Talk ____ like a Pro" where they give tips on how to use the correct terminology when talking certain beverage brewing. There is also some historical or fun facts about the different beverages that make this a nice little book to have on the side table to peruse.
And you know that muddler that was in great-grandma's kitchen that everyone wondered what it was for? Well, look on page 179 and find out how to easily put it to use.
So if you want to start gardening with an end result of something more palliative, this book would be a great resource for you. And come hear Tweten and Teashon this February at the Northwest Flower and Garden Show!