Parsnip and Potato Gratin
This hearty, delicious side dish epitomizes the heart of winter comfort food.
Ten Inspiring Ways to Garden through Winter
As an avid gardener, I enjoy my garden year-round. Don’t get me wrong; I’m not out there pulling weeds or harvesting all year, but I am out enjoying it in many other ways. I hope this list of ideas brings you gardening inspiration for these colder months.
1: CLEAN UP
Clean up your garden and equipment if you haven’t already. Perhaps the least exciting task (but arguably the most important), tidying up deters unwanted insects and rodents. Clean up old vegetables, fruits and piles of fallen leaves. It’s good to leave seed pods and other natural sources of food and shelter until spring, because birds, bees and other beneficial insects and reptiles rely on these things to live through the winter.
2: GET CREATIVE
Walk through your garden and reevaluate your pathways and design while it is dormant. Are you still happy with it? Should you do any redesigning before the main growing season? Take this time to replenish mulch to protect plantings, reduce weeds and feed your soil through the winter.
3: START DREAMING
Plan for next year. I get so excited when my seed catalogue arrives each year—I’m like an 80s kid with the Sears catalogue! It brings the fresh start of a new growing season, all the exciting new seeds and the promise of doing better than the previous year. Pour a cup of tea or coffee and indulge the daydreaming. Make your list—and then edit it down to what you can realistically grow in your space. Sketch out your plans (remember to rotate your crops each year) and place that order!
4: SOW SEEDS
Start some seeds. Really! Some seeds need to be started indoors as early as February. Artichokes, lavender, asparagus, chives, bulbing fennel, leeks and woody herbs all benefit from an early start. By February, it’s time to directly sow broad beans, and a few weeks after that, you can start sowing peas. If you haven’t sown seeds early indoors before, consult a gardening guide and be aware you will need some strong growing lights once the seeds sprout.
5: PLANT TREES
Plant bare root trees while they are dormant. This requires the ground not to be frozen, but here on the Island, our winters are usually mild and the ground doesn’t usually freeze before the end of December. Get advice from your local garden centre and choose the perfect trees for your garden.
6: GET COLOURFUL WITH BULBS
Grow some spring bulbs! Forcing bulbs is a wonderful way to bring fresh colour indoors before spring. Some bulbs like crocus, tulips, snowdrops and hyacinth are easier than others. Once you’ve chosen your bulbs, get them chilling. A cold garage or a paper bag in your fridge works. Leave them there for 6–15 weeks depending on variety—or try amaryllis or paper white narcissus, which do not require chilling. Meanwhile, choose a container, pot or vase to compliment your chosen flowers. Once the bulbs have gone through their cold period, plant them with water over some gravel or a small bit of soil. Submerge the bulb halfway in soil or water with its tip up, and keep in a warm, bright spot in your house. The transition from cold to warm signals that it is time to grow and bloom.
7: CREATE A WINTER PLANTER
Make a winter planter for your front porch. Go colorful with wintergreen, ornamental kale, pansies, primroses, hellebores, heather and dwarf cypress. For a monochromatic look, try boxwood, juniper or other small coniferous trees, hardy grasses or holly. Be sure to choose a pot that won’t break if it freezes; metal, wood, fiberglass or plastic are good freeze-proof materials for winter pots. Using a layer of sheet moss or thick mulch will help insulate and prevent drying of your winter display.
8: DESIGN AN OASIS
Create an outdoor winter oasis. Set up a fire pit, add a few chairs and have some cozy blankets at the ready. Twinkle lights, candles or lanterns add a welcoming ambience, and a few side tables make it perfect for evening drinks and appetizers. (Substitute a large bowl of candles or propane heater if you’re not allowed open fires where you live.)
9: GO SHOPPING IN YOUR OWN YARD
Forage through your garden for decorations. Dried twigs, cedar boughs, dried hydrangeas, bay leaves and rosemary stems work together to make unique wreaths. For inside your home, try tall sculptural branches or evergreen boughs in vases, or make petite bouquets of fragrant herbs for the bathroom or kitchen counter.
10: BUILD A BIRD CAFÉ
Feed the birds and other wildlife. If there aren’t many residual seeds left in your garden, fill a bird feeder or hang suet with seed to help our wild friends through the winter. Grab a bird-watching book and notice how many different types of birds visit your garden. If you can commit to keeping your hummingbird feeder fresh and clean, it’s a great way to enjoy our non-migratory Anna’s hummingbirds year-round too.
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“Anyone who thinks gardening begins in the spring and ends in the fall is missing the best part of the whole year; for gardening begins in January with a dream.” –Josephine Nuese |
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