January Winter Stillness

Happy New Year!!  Is it me or is it as we get older, the years seems to go by faster?  Last year flew by rather quickly, almost like a flash of light. What was your best pleasant memory of last year? Thinking about starting a new year’s resolution?

Once the craziness of holidays passes I’m truly able to settle down.  Each visit to the mailbox brings a new batch of seed catalogs and my imagination runs wild with all of the possibilities for the coming year.  Sketch paper, gardening books, catalogs, and colored pencils litter my office desk and occasionally travels to the coffee table in the living room. It seems like all my spare time is devoted to planning out the next garden season to come. There’s nothing like starting a day, lounging on the sofa by the warm fire with a mug of coffee and the latest gardening book.

The months of winter is the best time to create a garden map and review your garden notes for a steady continual harvest.  I find that by keeping a garden calendar helps me stay organized. I can keep track of what tasks to do this month,  keep track on sowing dates and the projected harvest dates for the produce.

I’d like to share few tasks that I have in my yearly calendar for January that will keep your crops healthy and growing. 

Sneak Peek in January Gardening Task:

• Design and plan a spring, summer, fall, and winter garden.
• Check Inventory- order seeds and supplies if needed.
• Care for Tools- sanitize, sharpen, and oil blades, forks, and pruners.
• Sow seeds indoors for an early start. Check out my blog post titled: “Start with seeds they’re dirty deeds done dirt cheap” for helpful tips on sowing seeds.
• Prune- Midwinter is the ideal time to prune deciduous woody shrubs and ornamental trees. To prune, cut at a 45-degree angle sloping away from the shoot, so rainwater drains off the wound. Use clean, sharp tools, and remember to clean the blades between one plant and the next, to prevent the spread of diseases. I generally begin with the most time-consuming varieties like the thorny monster blackberry vine, then move on to the other cane berries and deciduous shrubs, and finish with the fruiting trees. After pruning, clean up old leaves and debris to prevent the spread of disease. Do not prune Spring blooming shrubs until after they bloom.
• Apply 2nd dormant oil spray to the fruit trees.
• Apply vegetable fungicide spray.
• Stay-Tidy- As winter progresses most hardy brassicas, including winter cabbage, kale, and cauliflower, tends to drop their mature lower yellow leaves. These can accumulate around the base of the plant, harboring pest and diseases, and also start to smell. Pick up and compost fallen leaves regularly.
• Modify the irrigation water schedule, more information on Winter Irrigation and Watering Tips blog post.
• Plant Bare-Root- I love heading to my local nursery to check out the bare root deciduous plants. It’s the fraction of the cost of a potted plant, light and easy to transport

Knowing what to do ahead of time helps me plan time for the tasks and prevents the feelings of overwhelming and stress in the garden. I can check the list off as I complete them. Between all of the tasks listed above, I still have to squeeze in some time for other small projects if the weather permits it. If you have any additional advice or tasks in January for all the home gardeners in the world, please don’t hesitate to share your thoughts in the comments section. It’s wiser to learn from other people’s mistake to prevent me from making the same mistake myself.

Sending much love to you all.