The catalogs started piling up in December, but by a long-standing rule, they stayed by the door until after Christmas. Then they were dropped without ceremony onto a pile of other catalogs until after the middle of January. That date has passed, and now the gardening catalogs are displayed on the table in all their immanent colorful glory.
OK, I’ll admit on the eleventh, I broke down and bought one of those “herb gardens on your kitchen window” kits. I just couldn’t bear it anymore – wait! Let me Italicize that for emphasis I just couldn’t wait any longer!
Things are going to be a bit different this year. I mean it! My hip surgery last August left me evaluating how I use the spatial limits and advantages of the garden and how my physical inabilities butted up against those. So instead of tearing through pages of colorful flowers and veggies, I’ve been looking at elevated planters. I think the days of spending lots of time on my knees may become strictly rationed.
The websites and catalogs are full of goodies promising to make my gardening life easier. But, after an initial viewing, I cut to the chase and went to the many reviews on how these stack up. There are lots of reviews of these products. I am looking at their esthetics, potential longevity, capacity, and pricing. I haven’t made any firm commitments.
For many years I was an advocate of grow bags. They are cheap, economical on water ( rather than watering the whole bed, you just water the bag), and very friendly to be placed in useable but odd locations around the garden. However, their principal problem is that they are ugly and don’t age well. Also, I still have to stoop to weed them. I want to limit stooping and kneeling. Some of the grow bags will go into the further reaches of the garden. Those in poor condition will be repurposed. They are made from heavy-duty landscape cloth, so cutting them up and using them as landscape barriers is a good repurposing.
January tends to be my month for planning and exploring new options in both the shop and the garden. It’s a strategy I’ve found helps me get through the worst of this part of the winter. In February, I’ll start more plants inside, ordering and assembling what I need for spring, and get busy making maple syrup.
If you have the winter blahs, having a plan is essential.
Wow, good for you! And wise. It’s hard to adapt, but one must. This may be the year our dwindling tomato section, raised vegetable bed and flower patches won’t happen, but husband thoroughly enjoys (container and pot) herbs and flower gardening all around the deck rail. (Last year’s trial of sunflowers in the raised bed was a huge success, and a patch of bee balm also grows taller than the weeds! He wants to do both of those again.) Anyway, happy growing and tapping to you!
As we age, we adapt. the garden shrinks in size, but hopefully not in the pleasure it gives us. Good luck to you in your efforts, and let’s stay in touch as things develop.
I can relate to you. Raise garden and container maybe a alleviate the challenge of mobility. It’s more fun to plant directly into the earth.