What on Earth do Gardeners do in Winter? Part 2 of 2

Hey there, Friends!

Welcome back for 

What to do with your Gardener Self in Winter,

Part Two of Two

Winter in the Treasure Valley

Here we go!  

Get tools ready - if you didn’t clean and sharpen your tools in the fall, do it now so they are ready and waiting for you when you can finally get back in the soil.  Also, make a list of anything you may need before your spring gardening (gloves, tools or tool replacements, etc), and get them. The only things I'd hold off on are things like soil, amendments, and mulches. Nobody needs to be storing those in the winter weather.

Clean house - I tell my clients that I do this in reverse of most people. I do “spring cleaning” in the house in the fall and winter because that's when I’m going to be stuck in the house. Then, I bust outa that house as soon as I can in the spring, and that’s when I do most of what people call "fall cleanup" in the garden.  This is an oversimplification (which I’ll address in a later post), but you get the idea.

Bake/nourish - make the good things, the warm things, the cozy and favorite things that you and your family and friends love. Because you have the time! When you finish using the oven (if no littles are close by), leave the oven door open - free heat (or is it recycled heat?)!

Garden themed movies and shows you didn’t take time to watch in the summer.  I have several I really love, and following are some of my favorites that include gardening or just beautiful gardens. All but the last currently stream on Prime.

• The Beautiful Fantastic is one of my all time faves.  

• Enchanted April - it’s slow, but beautiful. 

• The Gardener (the one made in 2018) is a documentary of Frank Cabot, and his designing of one of America’s great gardens, Leslie Quatre Vents. Very inspiring! 

• Also, I love to watch Gardener’s World with Monte Don and others.

• The Garden Chronicles streams on Discovery Plus. One season of eight short episodes, each highlighting an iconic garden. Love this - wish there were more!

Read (about gardening and God, of course!) - again, you have the time, and there are so many great books out there! Get something warm to drink, a cozy blanket, and curl up on the couch. Some favorite gardening books I go back to again and again:

• Tasha Tudor’s Garden, by Tovah Martin and Richard Brown

• The Layered Garden, by David Culp

• Cool Flowers, by Lisa Mason Ziegler

• The Flower Farmer, by Lynn Byczinski

• Anything by Floret’s Erin Benzakein

• A Year Full of Flowers, by Sarah Raven

• Ruth Chou Simons is a Christian artist and author with some gorgeous books - Gracelaced, and The Way of the Wildflower are two.

  
  

Of course, there are lots of other things to do that I didn’t mention, like games, puzzles, crafts of all types, skiing, ice fishing…you get the idea.  But the above list is full of my go-to tasks for winter.

I hope this has been helpful to you.  I’d love to hear anything you have on your list. Also, polite questions, comments, and feedback make my day.

Grateful for you,

Lorrie