Anna’s Nest

Winter Gardening

2007-01-13


I guess I’m not really a gardening nut. I just have a few small flower beds and I haven’t even planted a veggie garden yet (although I hope to do that someday soon). But I sure do enjoy my time in the garden. It’s a form of relaxation/exercise that combines many of the things that I enjoy into one hobby.

During the winter months, that hobby is dramatically reduced. Dramatically. Toward January/February, I begin to feel quite forlorn. Especially when a couple of feet of snow cover the ground, and I have to put on my hubbies’ big boots just to take veggie scraps out to the compost heap (which I built with my own two hands last fall – thank you very much!).

At this time of year, indoor gardening, although not quite as fulfilling as the sink-your-hands-into-the-earth, dirt-under-the-fingernails, get-an-aching-back involvement of the outdoor variety, is definitely a lifesaver, and can do a good job of tiding me over until the next growing season (or at least until I’m growing some seedlings to plant in the spring).

Enter (tum ta da tum!) – windowsill herbs!
Window herb garden

Ali and Brett, my sister-in-law and her hubby, gave me a little windowsill herb kit for my birthday (thanks, guys! I’ll send you a real thank-you note soon!). They bought the cutest windowsill pot set – 3 pots with a shared tray – and sent them along with three garden in a bag herb kits.

These things make great gifts! I should know :) You can give them on their own (the bag can act as the “pot”), or with a pretty pot. The bags contain the soil and a packet of seeds, as well as what they call “drainage discs”, which confused me until I realized they were talking about the packing peanuts that were in the bag (since the bags don’t have holes in the bottom, I guess this helps keep the soil from getting soggy if you overwater a bit).

In addition to my windowsill garden, my little bonsai tree (Buddie), has helped with the appeasement of my green(ish) thumb.

Buddy

Buddie was also a gift – from my brother and sister-in-law. He likes to be pampered. And since that’s what I like to do, well, I think we have a match! I give Buddie a little spray bath once a week to help him humidify (sometimes more since our house gets so dry in the winter). I also check him once a day or so to make sure that his soil is moist. There isn’t a lot of it so it gets dried out easily.

How about you? Do you get antsy for green things during the winter months? How do you cope?

Filed Under: Gardening, Linkies

  1. I got a seed catalog last week. I don’t know if I’ll order anything, but it’s nice to look at the pictures! Also I read today about giving indoor plants a “bath” in the sink. Hold them upside down in mild soapy water, turn them upright and let them sit a few minutes before rinsing them off. Seems like a good idea. But, a lot of my plants are heavy!

    Also you can put up a bird feeder. Birds need food this time of year and in the summer they’ll help eat bugs for you. :)

    Amy    Jan 14, 04:43 PM    #
  2. Ah, yes! Browsing is the best! And bathing plants sounds like a great idea, too – at least for smallish ones.
    I put up a little “feeder” (it’s really just a bag with holes for the food to poke out), but I think it might have the wrong kind of seed. I got some thistle seed, hoping to attract some finches, but maybe there aren’t many finches around here, because I have yet to see a bird enjoying it. I’ve seen some seed scattered on the snow under the feeder a couple of times, though, so maybe they just wait until I’m not looking. I’d like to get a real bird feeder though.

    Anna    Jan 14, 07:36 PM    #
  3. Awwww… Buddy is very cool looking. It’s good we didn’t get buddy for ourselves, because we would have killed him by now.

    And at least you get snow. I am pretty jealous of all the snow you get up there. We haven’t had a lick or snow (or even ice!) yet. On the bright side, It really hasn’t gotten that cold here yet either.

    But I’m with you, I hate waiting on projects I want to do.

    John Mark    Jan 15, 04:44 AM    #
  4. Your web page is great. I visited your website today and found it very interesting and well done. I can tell you have put a lot of work into it.

    St Albert Lawyers    May 26, 01:57 PM    #
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