January Gardening
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Hello again. Before I get to chatting about January gardening, let me congratulate the winner of one of my Light of Good Cheer candles, Jenny Goodman! Congrats, Jenny! I will get it off in the mail this week.
So are you guys starting to feel the itch to get back out in your gardens? I definitely am. We’ve been enjoying a very mild January in Western Washington which is forcing bulbs up earlier and I even have a couple of blooms on my rhododendrons. On Sunday, I got outside with the kids and started to rake up some of the debris from our cedar trees. This is actually a nice time to see the bones of your landscape. I’ve got several projects planned for spring. I’d like to remove several overgrown shrubs and improve the overall flow of our yard. Currently our yard is broken up with lots of little areas that all have unique qualities that I enjoy but it doesn’t really allow for movement through the different areas. One of the big projects will be removing a bamboo hedge. Bamboo is a beast and I am not entirely sure how to get rid of it. I’d also like to set up drip irrigation in my front and side gardens. I’m so excited to see how my new plants perform in their second year. Once everything starts to bloom, I hope to finally take some good photos and change the slideshow on this website!
Have any of you ordered seeds yet? I placed my first order last week. I’m going to experiment more with growing vegetables in containers on the patio. I really enjoy that kitchen garden space around the patio. In the fall, I planted garlic in a container, for no other reason than proving it can be done. Someone at a local garden store told me that it does not work but that really doesn’t make sense to me. The garlic all sprouted so we’ll see what kind of heads form this summer! This year I will do a few varieties of lettuces as well as peas, carrots, green beans, tomatoes, tomatillos, and peppers in my container garden.
At the school garden, I have some fun activities planned for the kids. First grade is made up of 3 different classes and we are going to have a contest to see which class is most successful growing peas. This activity is based on the children’s book, First Peas to the Table, written by Susan Grigsby. The book is about how Thomas Jefferson inspired a school garden. In fourth grade, we are going to experiment with soil temperature and seed germination. We are also going to start seeds inside and compare transplanted plants vs. direct sowing. I’m looking forward to these projects and some of the other things I have planned for spring. I am so glad that I have the opportunity to run the kids’ school garden.
With all of these projects at home and at the school, I am going to start journals. I bought two notebooks so I can keep notes on what is successful and what is not. What do you have planned this year?
Have a great week.
Jenny
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