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Tuesday, December 13, 2011

A Winter Reminder: Projects & Planning

My family finally made a start measuring out the area where we intend to build a large garden. It's an ambitious project that we're taking on, but this is the perfect time of year for that.
I've said this before, but it bears repeating. Winter is a great time to plan out your spring gardens, construct raised beds, pick your seeds, and all things garden planning related.
Many of us have put our gardens to bed for the winter. Those of us who do still have things growing find that caring for them is minimal. This leaves the time to accomplish tasks that are often difficult to finish in the growing seasons.
Take advantage of this time to take care of those lingering tasks and projects. Build that chicken coop! Dig those irrigation trenches you've been putting off! Assemble that tool shed! Believe me, you don't want to be doing these things in the burning heat of summer.
If you've never gardened before, then hack together your first raised bed, fill it, and cover it with mulch. Dig out a conventional bed in the ground, and mulch that over if you prefer to work with native soil. Decide which seeds you'd like to plant, or decide which store bought plants you'll be purchasing. Start small! One garden bed is plenty for a new gardener. You can add beds as you gain experience.
If you finish off these tasks now, they'll be ready for you come spring. It's very easy to get overwhelmed with all that you feel needs to be done with a garden, especially if you're gone all day with an outside job, have kids to raise, and/or are new to gardening. But gardening does not have to be mutually exclusive with any of those things. Be kind to yourself, and use each season to finish the tasks that are suited for them. It will make the busier growing seasons much calmer and enjoyable. And that is, after all, a large part of what gardening is all about.

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