Prep for Your Kitchen Garden in the Off Season

There’s no shortage of tasks you can do in the slower winter months to prep your kitchen garden for spring. Take the opportunity to prepare a plan for your garden so you can reflect on past growth and set future garden goals.

January Garden To-Do List:

Start a kitchen garden journal

If you had a garden last year, review what produce you liked or didn't like, any growing difficulties or surprises, and identify the new varieties of herbs, fruits, and veggies you’d like to try this year. 

If you haven’t had a garden, start by collecting your 10 favorite recipes. Review the ingredients and identify any that you can grow yourself. You can start small with an herb garden, or a curated salsa, salad, or smoothie garden, or go ahead and plant everything you’d need to make your favorite ratatouille

Order your favorite varieties of seeds, bulbs, & plants from True Leaf Market

Believe me, it’s not too early! We’re expecting seed shortages this summer, so order ahead to ensure you get what you want. Order any fruit plants, potatoes, onions, and/or flower bulbs now so you are ensured your favorite varieties.

Identify the appropriate time frames for starting seedlings

For example, plants like lavender and rosemary need to be started sooner than peppers. Make a chart with your seed starting schedule to keep you on track.

Grow microgreens indoors with Hamama Greens or True Leaf Market Kits

You can keep those fresh flavors alive through winter, and add a little pop of greenery to brighten up your kitchen space.

Prep supplies for next season

If you have no snow make sure beds are cleaned out, and go ahead and add fresh compost. Organize your seeds, tools and gardening equipment. Clean your tools and your storage spaces so they are ready to be utilized this spring.

Plan to maximize your kitchen garden output

Explore the possibility of adding a vertical growth element to add your additional growing space so your harvests are even bigger. Trellises and other vertical growing options can also be a great addition to your home’s landscape. 

Consider a small greenhouse or cold frame to extend your growing season. You can start planning your kitchen garden expansion by reviewing last year, taking into consideration crop rotation and available sunlight, in order to guide your decisions on how to best develop your garden’s evolution.

I would like to encourage you also to incorporate these goals with your overall health and lifestyle ambitions this year.  If you need a little extra motivation, I invite you to read about the benefits of living a garden-to-table lifestyle. You might discover some positive effects and ways to incorporate a garden into your life that you hadn’t considered before.

If you’re unsure of what steps to take next, or need someone to bounce ideas off of, give me a call and we can set you up for success.

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