It might still be winter and many of us might be buried in snow but there is still plenty of gardening work to be done. We might not be able to actually get our hands in the dirt just yet, but we can get ready for garden season now. Use this time now to get organized and prepared for later. This will help make the coming garden productive and even help save some sanity during the busiest days.
Get the Garden Journal Ready
If you don’t already have one, get a garden journal ready. This can be as simple as a school notebook or something specifically designed for gardening, like this amazing Gardening Notebook. A garden journal can go a long way in keeping everything organized and help in planning for future years.
Organize & Order Seeds
Go through all those seed packets and get them in order. There are so many different ways to do this, pick the one that most makes sense to your personal organizational style:
- Use a box divided by index cards and keep the types together: pickling cucumbers in one section, tomatoes in another, hot peppers, etc. Or organize them by planting date.
- Use an old photo album.
After those seed are organized, take a good inventory of what’s there and what’s missing. Use this information combined with seed catalogs and new things you want to add to the garden to purchase seed for the coming season.
Schedule the Planting
Sit down with a calendar or my free printable schedule and plot out those planting dates. Jot it all down and make sure nothing is missed. Make notes of what gets started (and when) inside. What should be direct planted, when. When should those seeds started inside begin their hardening off period. All of it should go on a schedule. This will save time and heartache later when something truly special gets forgotten in the busyness of the season.
Make Plant Markers
This is a great thing to get ready now and will save time later when planting gets in full. It’s so easy to make these after all the planning is done and nice to have it all in a stack ready for planting day. Some ideas for plant markers include:
Build Planters
Use this winter season to build some planters and be ready as soon as the temperatures are right for planting.
- Grow vertically in a small space by making some A-Frame Pallet Planters. These could be a great solution for renters because they could move with you. It’s also a great solution for small spaces in that it can increase that space dramatically and inexpensively.
- Use those 18 gallon totes to build self-watering containers.
- Jazz up repurposed containers with tile.
Use these quiet, slower days to set yourself up for a successful and less stressful garden season later. What garden projects are you working on now?