January 17, 2011

Gardening In January

Gardening in January hasn't amounted to much because the
garden has been snowy and the ground saturated. (Think mud)

Still, under the snow covered mulch are beets to harvest!
(And carrots and turnips too)

Have I mentioned that I love my new barn boots?
They were a Christmas present from DH.

I was pleased to find bites of broccoli under the melted snow and ice

I'm happy to announce that my cabbage seeds are planted!

And, as the catalogues come in, I order more seeds.
I'm focusing on herbs & a few new vegetable varieties.

Garden 2011 is underway! How about you?

Gardening In January © January 2011 by Leigh at http://my5acredream.blogspot.com/

17 comments:

-Heidi said...

Yep, I'm going to be starting seeds in the greenhouse this week! Woohoo! Let the fun begin!

Doyu Shonin said...

Love the boots!

We will have a slower year due to family commitments off-site. But out kale, collards, chard, and beets are going strong, and our seeds are ordered.

Leigh said...

Heidi! I'm dying to know! How does a vansteader garden? And with a greenhouse??? Can't wait for the posts.

Risa, thanks! I hope your trip was a good one. Next year I'll follow your example and plant collards and kale as well as beets and chart. Actually, I wasn't going to order kale seeds, but received a packet from Baker Creek Heirlooms as my "thank you" gift! Next year I'm also going to try a hoop row cover for those winter greens. :)

Nina said...

It's lovely to see seeds started. It's way too early to start them here yet. I normally wait until the end of March or beginning of April. I love the seed catalogues. With so much cold and snow, it does make for good reading and dreaming!
I've got my first seed order in for herbs and dye plants. I'm still trying to narrow down the veggies though.

Woolly Bits said...

you're way ahead of me - I have the catalogues and did a quick browse, but I still have to check my leftover seeds or I am going to order way too much - again... the ground is too wet anyway right now - but I could clean up the tunnel and dome (have the pix, didn't want to send them now, because you weren't sure of having power....)! there is always something that can be done, I suppose:))

Jane @ Hard Work Homestead said...

I have everything ordered, ready, and waiting. Still to early for me to do anything but dream. Come on spring.

The Apple Pie Gal said...

I only have visions dancing in my head! But everything is ordered!

Love your new boots!

Mama Pea said...

You have cabbage seeds started??!! I don't even start mine until May lst! When can you set yours out?

Your new chore boots look cozy warm for this time of year.

Leigh said...

Nina, I'll wait a bit before starting my tender plants. I need to research herbs though, and find out when I can start those indoors. I've had trouble narrowing down my seed orders too. :(

Bettina, we're actually still to wet here too, LOL. And like you, I have to keep track of what I already have!

Our power should be good for awhile, so send those pix on whenever you get the chance. :)

Jane you're ahead of me! I'm about half(?) done ordering, though with every catalogue arriving in the mail, my orders grow. :)

APG, you're ahead of me too! Thanks about the boots.

Mama Pea, I can transplant young cabbage plants from the middle of February through the end of March. I was behind the power curve last year though, and didn't even think about starting them until about April. :o

The boots are truly warm. There's just enough room for me to wear 2 pairs of socks, regular and a thick, handspun, handknit pair of Lincoln wool. Cozy feet!

Mr. H. said...

Contemplating, still contemplating but no actual gardening work yet. I bet those beets were tasty.:)

Danni said...

Yay for Territorial Seed Company! (that's my local seed company here in Oregon - lol, been buying from them for years and years).
Wow, I can't believe you're already seed-starting. Last year's growing season was flat out horrible, I'm feeling a bit nervous about this year. Don't want to start things too early (like I seriously did last year) or get things in the ground too late (like I also managed to do).
Here's to a much better growing year in 2011! :-)

-Heidi said...

Hi again Leigh, well we just arrived "home" to Washington State (the ranch)... I keep an *extra* van here, that is now being converted into a greenhouse (I just started adding shrink wrap clear plastic to the windows. I also have use of the fancy ranch greenhouse. The temps on the peninsula are mild year-round. I doubt we'll have another freeze, but if we do I can add heat. The lows this week are close to 40F (and 40F *is* the low for Thurs). I'm also planning to add some light to my seed starting this year with a new and very economical approach. It will all be coming soon to a blog near you. lol

Benita said...

Wow! It's good to see someone is thinking about spring with all this white stuff.

Leigh said...

Mr H, actually the contemplating with no work is kinda fun. :) The beets were tasty. Washed, peeled, steamed, and buttered, mmmm-mmmm.

Farmgirl, lucky you to have such a great company so close! Last year I didn't do so well on quite a few things. Like waiting to late to think about starting cabbages. And getting things in at the wrong time of year in general. I'm just hoping I'll learn from those mistakes and do better this year. :)

Heidi, thanks for following up! So you get the best of both worlds. Using an extra van as a green house sounds like a clever use of it. Certainly have some insulation in place already! I'm looking forward to your blog posts about it all.

Benita, when I'm cold all I think about is spring! LOL. Actually today quite a bit more snow melted, and if the predicted rain finally arrives, the rest will be gone by tomorrow. The only problem with all that, is that the ground is too wet to do anything with!

Geodyne said...

Beets and broccoli: lifesavers! Do you have any kale in the ground, as well? (Ah, I've just seen that you're planning kale and collards for next year, I recommend them highly.)

I'm having to restrain my excitement at getting stuck into the garden again. It really is a compulsion, isn't it?

Julie said...

Your a little ahead of us here! I can't even begin to think about the garden yet. We are able to plant peas the end of March first of April depending on the snow fall. Seeds are started in March!

City Sister said...

Awesome! I went with the kids to the conservatory yesterday and can't wait to get back out to the garden!