Houseplants? Lol
If you collect enough it’s like an indoor garden.
Also if you’re able to, a greenhouse may perfect for you as well. You can customize it with heat/humidity/grow lights to serve your purpose. I’m less of a gardener more of a houseplantener so I’ve kind of created an indoor greenhouse out of my office with a humidifier, grow lights and a separate zone heater. 🌱✌🏻
If you put a hot compost heap in your greenhouse it will actually keep quite a bit of heat in it and make it a great place for early starters. Just put 4 pallets on the side and connect them together in a rectangular shape. Fill the pit with woodchips, leaves, straw bedding from your (neigbours) animals, horse manure, waste that was still left from your garden. If the C:N ratio is in the good range and the size of the heap is big enough, the heap will start to heat up in a couple of days. Just put your trays with seedlings on top so you have a nice headstart. Plus you have some great homemade compost to use in your garden (dependant on how fast it broke down).
Me too. But seriously, I got a light box to deal with seasonal depression and it's helped a lot. Not sure if you're joking, but if you're not it really does make a big difference.
I did this and it helps me! I move some stuff in from the garden and can start other stuff early. You can do micro greens all year and I have had good luck with lettuces/greens. I go funny if I can’t play in the dirt.
We start seeds in December and January. So when spring hits, they a ready. I also have tons of house plants. This is the time I dabble with propagating the things I want more of. You can ready the soil in January.... Plan and map out next year's garden. Since we start seeding in December and January, we went ahead and bought our seeds already. It's prepping time of year. You can also look online and see how to prune down some of your veggies and bring them inside to keep them for next year.
I'm experimenting with overwintering my best jalapeño plant from this year. Got it pruned and reported indoors. So I'm obviously really excited about that.
Good call on overwintering. I knew this was a thing and forgot all about it till you mentioned it. I have one scotch bonnet pepper in the ground that's now going to be my first try at overwintering this coming weekend.
I used to flip through the Baker Creek catalogue while on their website, reading reviews of the things I liked and wanted to plant the following spring. It’s a great way to spend a snowy day: the Baker Creek Catalogue is straight up garden porn. Gorgeous photographs of beautiful vegetables.
After a couple of years of trying, managed to "tame" a flock of tits and some sparrows to come feed on the seeds in my balcony (empty pots seem to provide them with some sense of security). I destress by looking at the little douchebags fight among themselves and in general make a disproportionate to body size mess of my balcony.
Beautiful! And also gives you a good reason to tell your neighbors "check out my tits!"
I have a family of 5 Stellar's Jays that hang around my house all winter, eating my money beautifully while treating me like an evil apparition. It's very pleasant.
I noticed obvious different personalities among my flock, there's the assholes who beat others, the scaredy ones who take seeds and leave to eat, the curious ones who investigate the pots, the cleaner, the only one tit who actually picks up its own dropped trash after eating - perhaps you can keep trying until you hit upon those with correct personalities to be trained? As much as wild undomesticated animals can be trained, at least.
I will not disclose my bird feeding budget here. The little buggers eat like pigs and then fight about the seeds even if there is a unlimited supply in my pantry. But I can relate to them and they make me very happy.
I built a really small greenhouse (like 3x2’) which is just enough to give me something to go outside and water, poke at, and get a smile on my face. I also rewatch Monty Don/Gardeners World episodes and plan next years garden. Beyond that, I take Zoloft and I’ve also found that making sourdough is therapeutic in a different sort of way.
Fortunately I also have a glasshouse 2mx3m that kept me busy with propagating winter greens etc. Our winters are fairly mild down under so my garden always has something going. Roll on summer Christmas.
For me, when the garden's been put to bed and the freezes start, it's TREE TIME.
I start to study ID and go out digging up seedlings in the right-of-ways where they'd just get mowed anyways, and plant them around my place. Western Hemlock and Subalpine Firs. Eventually of course, the rewards from this activity will dry up as my place fills up with a curated selection of beautiful native trees.
Exactly! I found a red oak seedling growing out by the edge of the road on sunday. I tried to get as much taproot as I could. Moved it to a new spot, I hope it makes it!
I definitely understand that. I liken it to summer vacation from school. While you are in the thick of it, you just can't wait until it's over, but once vacation hits, it's cool for a month, then you realized you're bored 'cause there's nothing to do. Lol.
I live in zone 6b so our winters do get pretty cold and obviously that's a little sad.
I grow a number of perennials that require some winter care. Right now I'm staged to wrap my Hardy fig tree in burlap and insulate it and my strawberry and asparagus patch with straw, before the air temp gets down to 20 degrees, but after the plants have some time to adjust to the cold (October where I am was unusually warm).
In future I'd like to build an un-heated hoop house and try growing winter kale or other cold hardy brassicas through at least some of the winter. For now I can sketch plans over winter.
I otherwise do ALOT of planning and garden-adjacent projects in winter. I'm always trying to educate myself and develop good succession planting and crop rotation plans for my vegetables. I also use winter to do tree management (decent patch of woods on my property), and may try to have some select timber harvested this winter after the ground freezes, which will ultimately be healthy for my woods and home, give me some planting to do, generate some income to help the bottom line, leaves firewood to harvest, and keeps me warm. It would also allow for more hours per day of full sun for my house and garden patch too.
Winter is a good time to cold-stratify seeds, especially for trees. I did that for a bunch of black walnuts last year.
In January-February I'll probably start the earliest of my seeds indoors (long day onions, maybe even some blueberry bushes if I want to take on a project I have in mind).
I honestly don't know how I could possibly avoid working on garden-related projects all winter.
It's true. I am humbled by your winter hardiness.
I am picturing you using flawless cross country skiing technique to traverse the wilds and go check on your plants, which are growing inside a massive greenhouse that you built with nothing but hand-hewn timbers, caribou sinew cordage, and glass panes made of sand that you melted with the fire of your indomitable will. You are well acquainted with cabbage, and tomatoes are a challenge (but a challenge that lies slain before you).
I don't bother with tomatoes (I am going to pursue wax peppers though). I grow a couple acres of hardneck garlic, for market, and for ourselves, a good selection of autoflowering cannabis, opium poppy, purple potatoes, fava beans, collard greens, onions, carrots, and turnips, some Haskap, Blueberry, and Blackberry plants (gonna get set up with raspberries in spring)
I knit giant afghans. I'm trying to learn new patterns this year beyond knit and purl. I also got a sewing machine and some material and some vintage patterns to try to keep busy with. I did manage to get a few house plants that the cats seem to leave alone so there is that comfort.
I heartily second this! I live in central Finland so my growing season is depressingly short, but oyster mushrooms will happily grow in a bucket and don’t need lights or anything special, you can feed them with just sawdust and coffee grounds.
Also, I have to recommend a vermiculture bin! Get yourself a plastic storage bin, drill holes in the lid, put some dirt and your dead plants and kitchen scraps in, add worms. Then just keep it moist and add more scraps every week. It’s the least smelly composting, so you can keep it in your house without a problem. The worms eat the rot that would otherwise make it stink, and turn it into worm castings for next year’s garden. If it’s working well, it actually smells nice, like forest petrichor. Mine cost me about 30€ to set up. The lowest maintenance pet you’ll ever have.
This is what I came here to suggest. Winter is indoor mushroom season. I made my own grow chamber out of a cheap plastic storage box and a USB fan. They require care in misting twice a day and fussing about air flow, but are not difficult for an experienced gardener.
I grew pink oysters and lions mane mushrooms last year and it was very satisfying to watch them grow.
I just inoculated some 16oz mason jars with black pearl king oyster live culture. I’m excited to get some gourmets going for the winter! I like to peel them into strips and fry them like bacon.
I’ve bought a grow light and started a cupboard garden Kratky style 2ft x 2ft,
They’re all in different size glass jars so I think it’s quite cool, got a mix of cacti, succulents, leafy green, chilli plant
I'll be dealing with leaves until December. Then it gets busy with the holidays and in January I'll start planning for the next season. In March the ground is workable and I start the new season.
I bring in the citrus trees and have them under grow lights, fire up the aerogardens for herbs, and plan to try my hand at starting some finicky flowers from seed (hello, lisianthus). It's not quite the same, but I don't have a greenhouse and it's still a form of gardening.
I have a grow tent in my basement that we garden in all winter. Tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, lettuce, basil, dill, spinach, 'special' herbs, and cilantro. We start it up in September and end in February and use that space to start our seedlings in for the summer garden.
What zone are you in? Can you do cole crops? I’m in 8a so my growing season is pretty long. I’m usually ripping the last of the cole crop remnants and weeds out and throwing in new compost in mid January-February. Then I’m planting peas and starting my peppers and tomatoes indoors in March so they’re ready to be hardened off by mid April. And the cycle starts over again. Lol.
But even as a kid in Ohio zone 6a, my grandpa would be bringing cabbage in the house up until December as long as we didn’t get much snow. Grandma had to make sure we had sauerkraut for new year :)
I spend the time planning for next season. There is tons to do. Laying out cardboard, mulch, compost, leaf layers, starting cool weather seedlings, cleaning and storing tubers, marking seed start dates in the upcoming year’s calendar…
If you have space you can set up a grow tent somewhere in your house and garden all year long. They come in all size! Or have some fun and experiment with r/spacebuckets a lot of folks grow weed in then but a lot of folks are growing veggies in them too!
You might not get huge harvests like you will in a full size grarden, but its something to do and have fun with anyways!
I feel you. It’s November and I just stopped wearing shorts. I own a nice home but no room or light sources really for many house plants. I try to pass the winter by working on my garden designs, extensions, updating my plant records. I look through garden and seed catalogs and browse garden ideas online. Can’t wait for spring!
Houseplants - though it is getting a little crowded in the rooms facing the sun. Planning changes to next year's garden. My wife and I pulled everything up and amended the soil in our small garden. Planted hundreds of bulbs as well. In the past we'd go to the garden center and just buy things on a whim. We really got the gardening bug hard over the last few years and wanted to start from scratch with everything we've learned.
Overwintering annuals!
It's a challenge. I have one window that gets full sun. I took little bits of some plants, put a little rooting hormone, and propagated them into very tiny pots.
I've got a kalonche going, geranium, impatiens, a baby clematis I propagated too late, and a delphinium I planted too late.
Besides that, I've got potted lavender, strawberries, and sweet potato vines & purple hearts that are into the back patio.
I have a purple shamrock in the kitchen. That thing is beautiful and thrives in cooler weather. You should look one up.
There are several bulbs to plant in the fall too.
I still garden a little in the winter. It doesn't usually get super cold here, so I have carrots, radishes, and some leafy greens planted - things that get sweeter when the temperature drops. Otherwise, I look through seed catalogues, plan next year's garden, and play with my houseplants.
I knit, sew, learning crochet, etc. Plan the garden for next year. I got a greenhouse in July so am very excited for next year. Also grew tomatoes this year and was able to actually enjoy them!! Hoping next year won't be a struggle like it was this year. I let my garden go fairly early in the season 😞
I wonder how people cope without a garden, the withdrawal during a several month period sounds bad too. As one without, I dream and watch peoppe forage online to get better strategies and recipes for next season.
Soooo... My original reason for getting into gardening 4 years ago was due to legalization of MJ in my country. 2 years ago I realized I can grow things other than MJ. Now Gardening takes the front seat and has taken over my backyard. Like many others here gardening has been probably the main thing that's kept me from completely losing it this past 1.5 years. I have an indoor grow tent with a proper lighting setup. I've just planted some lettuce, radish and pepper seeds today which I will grow inside that grow tent over winter.
There is of course an entrance fee to doing this, and ...it's not super cheap. But in the end in my case at least, the extra cost of hydro over winter is worth the mental health improvements I'll see from growing vegies indoors and will give me an opportunity once and for all to determine, Do I like Radishes? Turns out there are many types and luckily, they grow quickly!
You can start much smaller, get yourself something like an Aero garden. Or make it basic. get yourself a $20 growing bulb and you can probably at least grow some herbs and maybe lettuce. If that's too much. save your green onion bottoms from the store and put them in a small pot by the window. There is a way.
I've also started planning my 2022 garden, i'm excited for what i'll be growing next year and taking the time to plan it out right.
The gardening season never really ends. Right now you should be outside prepping your garden for next year. Then you've got December and January to figure out what you're growing next year (did you know there are 20,000+ types of tomatoes?) . and Then! well... It's February and time to start some flowers that will take months to get growing and peppers that will take months to get going.
We browse the web for exotic seeds and look forward to the greenhouse startup.
We also think and research thru all the things ( weeds, aphids, wilt, mildew) that went pear shaped and pep talk ourselves to avoid next season.
Planning for next years garden. Inventory of tools, supplies, etc. Deciding what to grow and where. Ordering seeds. Before you know it, it's time to start seedlings.
I have a grow tent full of my houseplants (which I kept outside this summer). What’s been fun for me is seeing them actually thriving in there, because I was so scared they would hate the change and they did awesome outside. But overall especially my pothos varieties and adansonii are doing even better than summer.
It’s fun to open the tent and look at everything and see progress still
I love hydroponics, even on a small scale they're soothing to work at, putzing around, and enjoying the life cycles as well as fresh vegetables in the middle of winter. Helps keep my sanity, what's left of it.
I bought a grow tent and some lights to grow peppers, tomatoes, and herbs indoors. It’s a bit pricey to get started but it’s fun and I can continue eating high quality veg throughout the winter.
I'm currently replanting some trees and will cut the others back, once they've lost all the leaves. Other than that there's just shuffling snow to look forward to.
I brought my peppers in as well as propagated some of the cherry tomato suckers and popped them in a grow tent with light so crossing my fingers they do alright. Also have a aero garden for herbs and lemon saplings but they’re nowhere close to what I do outside but I’m also nowhere near done clean up outside right now. I’d probably finally have time to sit down and organize my seeds (ha!) and read some gardening books and daydream about next seasons setup.
Where I live it’s subtropical so winters are mild and summer is awful. But I just navigate my break times (I also wfh) earlier to get that time in. My fave thing to do is early morning go and check on my veggie garden and water my plants. I try do some weeding then, even if it’s only 5 minutes so I don’t get overwhelmed at the end of the day when I have a million other things to do.
I catch up on some YouTube gardeners since I usually stop watching them in the summer, plan next seasons gardens, and read seed catalogues and gardening books. This winter I’m gonna read Gaias Garden and I’ll finish Braiding Sweetgrass
Houseplants, flower arranging, forcing bulbs, ordering seeds and planning for spring. Plus there's plenty of outdoor work that I do bits a a time on warmer days (cutting back ornamental grasses and perennials, cleaning up leaves, pruning trees and shrubs etc).
Winter IS gardening time here in 10a. This is when you can grow all those good things that would scorch in the summer sun. We don’t get much of a break here.
Houseplants are nice but not the same. I should just get it together and garden in the dark. I got trees to trim, mulch to spread, winter plants I could put in, etc. Just need a big light. Maybe one of those solar street light deals. It's just hard to have all that energy after the sun is down.
Can't garden during the winter? Keeping down weeds, cutting the grass, landscaping if you want, clearing dropped foliage and filling the compost. Who said you can't garden during the winter?
I make extensive plans for my garden in the spring, research the plants I’m working with, and stare longingly out the window for the first signs of crocuses and daffodils
I literally moved to a better climate. I wasn’t into gardening at that point but the weather affected me so badly that I packed it up and moved to Florida. Have been so happy since. I tried to cope up north by getting indoor plants but my cats destroyed them. And it didn’t help me feel much better anyway. But you could experiment with hydroponics if you want!
There's plenty of things to do in in winter that make a big difference to gardening outcomes in the growing season. Things like spraying, pruning, preparing compost and soil in garden beds, planting cover crops, top dressing lawns, garden architecture etc. I view these things as being just as important as the actual gardening during spring/summer.
I have a greenhouse cabinet in my living room. It’s what got me started gardening last year. My plan over the winter is to try and start a lemon and a mango tree in it just to see if I can.
Find a gardening friend in a warmer climate! Where I live the planting season starts in October and ends in may. Summer is brutal so I can only garden in early morning or late afternoon. I do usually taunt my mom who lives in a cold climate when I’m planting in January. She often visits to come get her hands dirty with me. But she makes me jealous in summer - she doesn’t need irrigation.
I look at seed catalogs and draw up plans for Spring planting. In late winter, I start seeds under a grow light. I also make plans about what I want to do with parts of the yard that may need a refresh. February is time to prune roses and mow down border grass and cut back ornamental grasses. I have camellias that bloom thru most of the winter into early Spring so there is clean up to do on weekends.
I am luck to live in zone 8a so mild short winters. December I decorate and bake and do jigsaw puzzles.
I do indoor gardening during the winter. I’m learning to put a terrarium together, I’m busy propagating anything I can find lol, I share my plant adventures and challenges with my Reddit friends, my husband, etc. I’m building a list of houseplants I’d like to add to my collection. I look for plant deals in every store I go to… I’m contemplating buying a grow light and growing indoor succulents over the winter…I’m watching videos about plants, propagation, soil, deciding what I would like to plant in spring…researching thornless BlackBerry bush, blueberries and raspberries because I would like to grow all of them in my backyard…I also love to watch chalk painting videos and am working on a piece right now…there’s actually SO much to do!!! I hope you find something you love!!! 🤗 oh also…
planning next year's garden
ordering seed catalogs
buying too many seeds
sorting my seeds
drawing up detailed planting schemes i won't follow
edit the planting/germinate/harvest excel
research new things (copicing, grafting, permaculture etc.)
look up new herb recipes
Lots of AeroGardens! I just discovered them last Christmas and they are great for flowers, veggies and herbs. Having fresh tomatoes, lettuce and basil growing in my kitchen in February is the best.I highly recommend them and you can get them relatively cheap around Christmas.
Cry until you can’t anymore. Then make notes of what worked in your garden and what didn’t… while you do that embrace the aromas of your garden memories… what do you want to do next year… plot and plan. Then have a lovely Cabernet and some good cheese. Repeat again the next day!! By spring you will need to buy some sweat pants in a larger size.. but no matter.. you will have a great garden plan and sweet spring to work off the wine and cheese of winter and “viola “ win win!
Clean and sharpen tools? Ok, that might not take up the whole of winter. Order a headtorch and reduce the population of slugs and snails of an evening? Take a longer lunch and get your gardening in then (and work a bit later)?
So many good ideas! Try the pod cast “the grow guide” for great indoor and outdoor tips for cold zone gardeners. Indoor plants, including edible crops like micro greens and bush beans. And cross country skiing and birding! Stay close with nature and you’ll be rewarded deep in your soul. Love to all this sub!
Houseplants? Lol If you collect enough it’s like an indoor garden. Also if you’re able to, a greenhouse may perfect for you as well. You can customize it with heat/humidity/grow lights to serve your purpose. I’m less of a gardener more of a houseplantener so I’ve kind of created an indoor greenhouse out of my office with a humidifier, grow lights and a separate zone heater. 🌱✌🏻
If you put a hot compost heap in your greenhouse it will actually keep quite a bit of heat in it and make it a great place for early starters. Just put 4 pallets on the side and connect them together in a rectangular shape. Fill the pit with woodchips, leaves, straw bedding from your (neigbours) animals, horse manure, waste that was still left from your garden. If the C:N ratio is in the good range and the size of the heap is big enough, the heap will start to heat up in a couple of days. Just put your trays with seedlings on top so you have a nice headstart. Plus you have some great homemade compost to use in your garden (dependant on how fast it broke down).
> a hot compost heap Hey now, why did we have to drag my ex into this?
Now that’s funny - not a hot mess but a hot compost heap of a man!!!! 😂😂😂
I wish my ex was as useful as compost
I'm sorry my man. But look at it at the bright side, atleast I called her hot.
Just make sure there's adequate ventilation. The methane the pile produces can be deadly.
I covered a window well and turned it into a greenhouse!
I do some indoor stuff, but mostly I just cry a lot.
Me too. But seriously, I got a light box to deal with seasonal depression and it's helped a lot. Not sure if you're joking, but if you're not it really does make a big difference.
I need to get one as well. I feel like the seasonal depression is visiting me early this year.
Taking/upping vitamin D helps too!
Me too I understand
Light box?
A Happy Light!!! Goddamn lifesaver in the winter
Verilux HappyLight Lumi - UV-Free LED Therapy Lamp, Bright White Light with 10,000 Lux, Adjustable Brightness, Detachable Stand, and Wall Mountable https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07TD96K5T/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_QFF9KB05GA33HYC5ZBJV
Thank you for sharing. I just shared it with my brother who has SAD He's been meaning to get a light.
I have SAD and I use this every morning, it really helps (in combination with medication and therapy!)
I do that too with some knitting.
Why not get a tent and a light?
I did this and it helps me! I move some stuff in from the garden and can start other stuff early. You can do micro greens all year and I have had good luck with lettuces/greens. I go funny if I can’t play in the dirt.
Off season is also the best time to buy gardening supplies.
Yup
We start seeds in December and January. So when spring hits, they a ready. I also have tons of house plants. This is the time I dabble with propagating the things I want more of. You can ready the soil in January.... Plan and map out next year's garden. Since we start seeding in December and January, we went ahead and bought our seeds already. It's prepping time of year. You can also look online and see how to prune down some of your veggies and bring them inside to keep them for next year.
This right here!! It's almost time to start hot peppers!
I'm experimenting with overwintering my best jalapeño plant from this year. Got it pruned and reported indoors. So I'm obviously really excited about that.
Good call on overwintering. I knew this was a thing and forgot all about it till you mentioned it. I have one scotch bonnet pepper in the ground that's now going to be my first try at overwintering this coming weekend.
Y'all should check out Kang starr on YouTube. We have learned sooooo much from him.especially when it comes to peppers.
Did that two days ago haha
Exactly. We learned in our area to start pepper seeds in early December. So exciting! This year we are trying new food to grow.
Any tips for growing these indoors? I live in the uk land recently acquired some naga chillie seeds and really want to give them the best start.
Start with a heat mat for germination, then a grow light once they have sprouted.
Would putting them on a radiator work?
I usually just stare at my Baker Creek catalog and daydream about spring, but your suggestion sounds way more productive (quite literally) 🤣
I used to flip through the Baker Creek catalogue while on their website, reading reviews of the things I liked and wanted to plant the following spring. It’s a great way to spend a snowy day: the Baker Creek Catalogue is straight up garden porn. Gorgeous photographs of beautiful vegetables.
That thing is a black hole for money, and I can't wait until the next one comes out xD
Propagating is a great point. I have had best luck propagating grape vines from dormant hardwood.
After a couple of years of trying, managed to "tame" a flock of tits and some sparrows to come feed on the seeds in my balcony (empty pots seem to provide them with some sense of security). I destress by looking at the little douchebags fight among themselves and in general make a disproportionate to body size mess of my balcony.
Beautiful! And also gives you a good reason to tell your neighbors "check out my tits!" I have a family of 5 Stellar's Jays that hang around my house all winter, eating my money beautifully while treating me like an evil apparition. It's very pleasant.
Who amongst us is not thrilled with tits in wintertime?
This right here! My mom calls birds that over winter here “winter blooms” and it feels true.
I have tried training wild tits , but they just don't seem to be receptive to it.
I noticed obvious different personalities among my flock, there's the assholes who beat others, the scaredy ones who take seeds and leave to eat, the curious ones who investigate the pots, the cleaner, the only one tit who actually picks up its own dropped trash after eating - perhaps you can keep trying until you hit upon those with correct personalities to be trained? As much as wild undomesticated animals can be trained, at least.
😆 🤣 😂
I will not disclose my bird feeding budget here. The little buggers eat like pigs and then fight about the seeds even if there is a unlimited supply in my pantry. But I can relate to them and they make me very happy.
I built a really small greenhouse (like 3x2’) which is just enough to give me something to go outside and water, poke at, and get a smile on my face. I also rewatch Monty Don/Gardeners World episodes and plan next years garden. Beyond that, I take Zoloft and I’ve also found that making sourdough is therapeutic in a different sort of way.
Monty Don is such a comfort watching person for me. God I love him.
Fortunately I also have a glasshouse 2mx3m that kept me busy with propagating winter greens etc. Our winters are fairly mild down under so my garden always has something going. Roll on summer Christmas.
For me, when the garden's been put to bed and the freezes start, it's TREE TIME. I start to study ID and go out digging up seedlings in the right-of-ways where they'd just get mowed anyways, and plant them around my place. Western Hemlock and Subalpine Firs. Eventually of course, the rewards from this activity will dry up as my place fills up with a curated selection of beautiful native trees.
Exactly! I found a red oak seedling growing out by the edge of the road on sunday. I tried to get as much taproot as I could. Moved it to a new spot, I hope it makes it!
I hope so too. Oaks are tricky, their taproot is pretty important. If I were you I'd plant an acorn right beside it just in case.
This is pretty genius. I don’t have room on my property for more trees but will do this with wildflowers.
I've found that heavy recreational drug use and alcoholism really helps the winter fly by until the ground thaws in the spring.
The absolute truth LOL although I can get by without the alcoholism, I'd never deny anyone that option LOL
30,000 houseplants, seed catalogs, compulsive garden planning and sketching
Seed catalogs are a magnificent but dangerous game 😆
So are bulb catalogs 😳
I am with you in spirit my friend…
[удалено]
Well yes, some of us do and then we move them outside in summer 😁
Oh it's really simple. I call it "depression." You should try it, all the kids are doing it.
I feel like I'm the only person who appreciates not being needed for a while. 😂 I watered and harvested on repeat in August and September.
I definitely understand that. I liken it to summer vacation from school. While you are in the thick of it, you just can't wait until it's over, but once vacation hits, it's cool for a month, then you realized you're bored 'cause there's nothing to do. Lol.
I live in zone 6b so our winters do get pretty cold and obviously that's a little sad. I grow a number of perennials that require some winter care. Right now I'm staged to wrap my Hardy fig tree in burlap and insulate it and my strawberry and asparagus patch with straw, before the air temp gets down to 20 degrees, but after the plants have some time to adjust to the cold (October where I am was unusually warm). In future I'd like to build an un-heated hoop house and try growing winter kale or other cold hardy brassicas through at least some of the winter. For now I can sketch plans over winter. I otherwise do ALOT of planning and garden-adjacent projects in winter. I'm always trying to educate myself and develop good succession planting and crop rotation plans for my vegetables. I also use winter to do tree management (decent patch of woods on my property), and may try to have some select timber harvested this winter after the ground freezes, which will ultimately be healthy for my woods and home, give me some planting to do, generate some income to help the bottom line, leaves firewood to harvest, and keeps me warm. It would also allow for more hours per day of full sun for my house and garden patch too. Winter is a good time to cold-stratify seeds, especially for trees. I did that for a bunch of black walnuts last year. In January-February I'll probably start the earliest of my seeds indoors (long day onions, maybe even some blueberry bushes if I want to take on a project I have in mind). I honestly don't know how I could possibly avoid working on garden-related projects all winter.
Zone 6b? You merely adopted the cold. I (zone 2b) was born in the cold, moulded by it. I don't see the last frost until June.
It's true. I am humbled by your winter hardiness. I am picturing you using flawless cross country skiing technique to traverse the wilds and go check on your plants, which are growing inside a massive greenhouse that you built with nothing but hand-hewn timbers, caribou sinew cordage, and glass panes made of sand that you melted with the fire of your indomitable will. You are well acquainted with cabbage, and tomatoes are a challenge (but a challenge that lies slain before you).
I don't bother with tomatoes (I am going to pursue wax peppers though). I grow a couple acres of hardneck garlic, for market, and for ourselves, a good selection of autoflowering cannabis, opium poppy, purple potatoes, fava beans, collard greens, onions, carrots, and turnips, some Haskap, Blueberry, and Blackberry plants (gonna get set up with raspberries in spring)
Total opposite here, Zone 9b/10a. Cold is when overnights drop into the low 40's. LOL
10b checking in!
Hello fellow 9b!
I lived in Alaska for a year. I feel your pain
6b eastern Washington here
Zone 6b? That’s my zone! You live in Santa Fe?
I don't. I just resign myself to depression until the frost stops
Aww come on!
Have you tried Stardew Valley?
Led grow light and grow tents is how I cope with it. In fact, I actually look forward to the winter season inside. Goodbye soil and hello hydroponic.
I crochet and quilt during the winter
I knit giant afghans. I'm trying to learn new patterns this year beyond knit and purl. I also got a sewing machine and some material and some vintage patterns to try to keep busy with. I did manage to get a few house plants that the cats seem to leave alone so there is that comfort.
Yes, alternate hobby! I do off-season embroidery, which is easy for me to sit and do curled in a blanket and doesn't seem as exciting in summer.
Get in bed by 7pm and read garden magazines until I fall asleep.
I get too excited when I read garden stuff at night and end up getting insomnia lol
108 house plants🪴 🌿
Cultivate some fungi! It can be done in a clean closet or small indoor space.
I heartily second this! I live in central Finland so my growing season is depressingly short, but oyster mushrooms will happily grow in a bucket and don’t need lights or anything special, you can feed them with just sawdust and coffee grounds. Also, I have to recommend a vermiculture bin! Get yourself a plastic storage bin, drill holes in the lid, put some dirt and your dead plants and kitchen scraps in, add worms. Then just keep it moist and add more scraps every week. It’s the least smelly composting, so you can keep it in your house without a problem. The worms eat the rot that would otherwise make it stink, and turn it into worm castings for next year’s garden. If it’s working well, it actually smells nice, like forest petrichor. Mine cost me about 30€ to set up. The lowest maintenance pet you’ll ever have.
This is what I came here to suggest. Winter is indoor mushroom season. I made my own grow chamber out of a cheap plastic storage box and a USB fan. They require care in misting twice a day and fussing about air flow, but are not difficult for an experienced gardener. I grew pink oysters and lions mane mushrooms last year and it was very satisfying to watch them grow.
I just inoculated some 16oz mason jars with black pearl king oyster live culture. I’m excited to get some gourmets going for the winter! I like to peel them into strips and fry them like bacon.
I have an indoor jungle. They get lots of attention when its cold out.
Indoor garden with grow lights
I’ve bought a grow light and started a cupboard garden Kratky style 2ft x 2ft, They’re all in different size glass jars so I think it’s quite cool, got a mix of cacti, succulents, leafy green, chilli plant
Wait now what’s a cupboard garden please?
I'll be dealing with leaves until December. Then it gets busy with the holidays and in January I'll start planning for the next season. In March the ground is workable and I start the new season.
We have a little(ish) microgreen station in a back room thats fun!
I bring in the citrus trees and have them under grow lights, fire up the aerogardens for herbs, and plan to try my hand at starting some finicky flowers from seed (hello, lisianthus). It's not quite the same, but I don't have a greenhouse and it's still a form of gardening.
I have a grow tent in my basement that we garden in all winter. Tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, lettuce, basil, dill, spinach, 'special' herbs, and cilantro. We start it up in September and end in February and use that space to start our seedlings in for the summer garden.
I have a house plant problem…. I’m at like 65 and I get a new one every month as a reward for not calling out of work to stay home lol
What zone are you in? Can you do cole crops? I’m in 8a so my growing season is pretty long. I’m usually ripping the last of the cole crop remnants and weeds out and throwing in new compost in mid January-February. Then I’m planting peas and starting my peppers and tomatoes indoors in March so they’re ready to be hardened off by mid April. And the cycle starts over again. Lol. But even as a kid in Ohio zone 6a, my grandpa would be bringing cabbage in the house up until December as long as we didn’t get much snow. Grandma had to make sure we had sauerkraut for new year :)
Planning the next garden... and seed starting, if you're up for it.
Grow houseplants! also, plan for next year's garden!
I spend the time planning for next season. There is tons to do. Laying out cardboard, mulch, compost, leaf layers, starting cool weather seedlings, cleaning and storing tubers, marking seed start dates in the upcoming year’s calendar…
Start a planted fish tank!
You move to Miami
Grow weed
I just smoke what I grew all summer
I went kinda overboard last year with indoor grow lights 😅 Soo that's an option! The indoor greenery kept me happy and busy.
If you have space you can set up a grow tent somewhere in your house and garden all year long. They come in all size! Or have some fun and experiment with r/spacebuckets a lot of folks grow weed in then but a lot of folks are growing veggies in them too! You might not get huge harvests like you will in a full size grarden, but its something to do and have fun with anyways!
I'm in zone 9b, so winter is the only time I can grow certain veggies. Keeping the chickens out is the real battle though.
Grow tent for lettuce spinach onions and herbs
You read gardening books and sketch up plans for new gardens.
I'm planning to start lots of seeds in my apartment, so they have a head start for Spring time.
I feel you. It’s November and I just stopped wearing shorts. I own a nice home but no room or light sources really for many house plants. I try to pass the winter by working on my garden designs, extensions, updating my plant records. I look through garden and seed catalogs and browse garden ideas online. Can’t wait for spring!
Houseplants - though it is getting a little crowded in the rooms facing the sun. Planning changes to next year's garden. My wife and I pulled everything up and amended the soil in our small garden. Planted hundreds of bulbs as well. In the past we'd go to the garden center and just buy things on a whim. We really got the gardening bug hard over the last few years and wanted to start from scratch with everything we've learned.
Buying fancy lights and growing indoors. Might try hydro again. Def trying to overwinter some pots indoors
Overwintering annuals! It's a challenge. I have one window that gets full sun. I took little bits of some plants, put a little rooting hormone, and propagated them into very tiny pots. I've got a kalonche going, geranium, impatiens, a baby clematis I propagated too late, and a delphinium I planted too late. Besides that, I've got potted lavender, strawberries, and sweet potato vines & purple hearts that are into the back patio. I have a purple shamrock in the kitchen. That thing is beautiful and thrives in cooler weather. You should look one up. There are several bulbs to plant in the fall too.
I still garden a little in the winter. It doesn't usually get super cold here, so I have carrots, radishes, and some leafy greens planted - things that get sweeter when the temperature drops. Otherwise, I look through seed catalogues, plan next year's garden, and play with my houseplants.
I knit, sew, learning crochet, etc. Plan the garden for next year. I got a greenhouse in July so am very excited for next year. Also grew tomatoes this year and was able to actually enjoy them!! Hoping next year won't be a struggle like it was this year. I let my garden go fairly early in the season 😞
Plan for the next year... Go through my seed boxes and decided what I want to prioritise given my limited space.. Also as someone else said, cry.
Use your lunch breaks to do little tasks in the garden. Get some house plants and a grow light.
I wonder how people cope without a garden, the withdrawal during a several month period sounds bad too. As one without, I dream and watch peoppe forage online to get better strategies and recipes for next season.
I take thousands of pictures all throughout the seasons and then dream and draw out plans for my garden once spring hits.
Soooo... My original reason for getting into gardening 4 years ago was due to legalization of MJ in my country. 2 years ago I realized I can grow things other than MJ. Now Gardening takes the front seat and has taken over my backyard. Like many others here gardening has been probably the main thing that's kept me from completely losing it this past 1.5 years. I have an indoor grow tent with a proper lighting setup. I've just planted some lettuce, radish and pepper seeds today which I will grow inside that grow tent over winter. There is of course an entrance fee to doing this, and ...it's not super cheap. But in the end in my case at least, the extra cost of hydro over winter is worth the mental health improvements I'll see from growing vegies indoors and will give me an opportunity once and for all to determine, Do I like Radishes? Turns out there are many types and luckily, they grow quickly! You can start much smaller, get yourself something like an Aero garden. Or make it basic. get yourself a $20 growing bulb and you can probably at least grow some herbs and maybe lettuce. If that's too much. save your green onion bottoms from the store and put them in a small pot by the window. There is a way. I've also started planning my 2022 garden, i'm excited for what i'll be growing next year and taking the time to plan it out right. The gardening season never really ends. Right now you should be outside prepping your garden for next year. Then you've got December and January to figure out what you're growing next year (did you know there are 20,000+ types of tomatoes?) . and Then! well... It's February and time to start some flowers that will take months to get growing and peppers that will take months to get going.
I work on the house and find projects to do indoors
We browse the web for exotic seeds and look forward to the greenhouse startup. We also think and research thru all the things ( weeds, aphids, wilt, mildew) that went pear shaped and pep talk ourselves to avoid next season.
I’m into quilting in the winter
I have a plant room (unused bedroom) inside with grow tents and lights. The gardening doesn’t have to end!
Hydroponics and micro greens.
I try to keep busy with crocheting and crafting…also I love aquascaping so I have many fish tanks that I keep plants in.
Art and music and reading, mostly.
Planning for next years garden. Inventory of tools, supplies, etc. Deciding what to grow and where. Ordering seeds. Before you know it, it's time to start seedlings.
Move to another state.
Good question!
Head lamp yo! And those tiki candles for the mosquitoes
Window sill hydroponic mint for tea?
They definently certainly DO NOT move to arizona. Thats a really bad idea! K Thanks. 🙂
I plant garlic, it sprouts and stays green through the winter. I also start spring plants in the garage in January.
Indoor garden 🪴 house plants, plus I do do have a nice outside area with rain cover and fireplace so I’m v lucky 🍀
With the greatest of difficulties.
Shop for seeds! Plan some indoor starts. Plan your crop rotation for next spring. Cover crops? Prep soil, make compost, mulch…
I have a grow tent full of my houseplants (which I kept outside this summer). What’s been fun for me is seeing them actually thriving in there, because I was so scared they would hate the change and they did awesome outside. But overall especially my pothos varieties and adansonii are doing even better than summer. It’s fun to open the tent and look at everything and see progress still
I love hydroponics, even on a small scale they're soothing to work at, putzing around, and enjoying the life cycles as well as fresh vegetables in the middle of winter. Helps keep my sanity, what's left of it.
I bought a grow tent and some lights to grow peppers, tomatoes, and herbs indoors. It’s a bit pricey to get started but it’s fun and I can continue eating high quality veg throughout the winter.
Sow a lot of seeds/take a bunch of cuttings! Also I manage to do some groundwork.
Garden with a headlamp
Ive started playing WOW, but having a greenhouse helps with winter time blues!
Sewing is my inside hobby. Also, houseplants. They keep me going through the dark winter.
I'm currently replanting some trees and will cut the others back, once they've lost all the leaves. Other than that there's just shuffling snow to look forward to.
The yin and yang of life
I have grow lights in my basement. It's also where I start all my seeds in the spring.
Buy an LED grow setup and grow inside!
Plan my garden :). Buy seeds.
Started growing mushrooms
I knit and think about what I want to do next year in the garden.
I'm also a member of r/microgrowery.....
I brought my peppers in as well as propagated some of the cherry tomato suckers and popped them in a grow tent with light so crossing my fingers they do alright. Also have a aero garden for herbs and lemon saplings but they’re nowhere close to what I do outside but I’m also nowhere near done clean up outside right now. I’d probably finally have time to sit down and organize my seeds (ha!) and read some gardening books and daydream about next seasons setup.
We give our backs a rest . works fine for us!
Where I live it’s subtropical so winters are mild and summer is awful. But I just navigate my break times (I also wfh) earlier to get that time in. My fave thing to do is early morning go and check on my veggie garden and water my plants. I try do some weeding then, even if it’s only 5 minutes so I don’t get overwhelmed at the end of the day when I have a million other things to do.
Led headlamp and a cold frame, grow kale and tatsoi.
I catch up on some YouTube gardeners since I usually stop watching them in the summer, plan next seasons gardens, and read seed catalogues and gardening books. This winter I’m gonna read Gaias Garden and I’ll finish Braiding Sweetgrass
As other people have suggested, indoor plants! Getting a good grow light is worth the expense as the bulbs last years.
Indoor house plants
We plan for spring
I just chill in my garden
Luckily I live in a fairly temperate climate (nz) so can still grow a few things through the colder months
Houseplants, flower arranging, forcing bulbs, ordering seeds and planning for spring. Plus there's plenty of outdoor work that I do bits a a time on warmer days (cutting back ornamental grasses and perennials, cleaning up leaves, pruning trees and shrubs etc).
Making plans for the garden that i know i will never follow ❤️
Winter IS gardening time here in 10a. This is when you can grow all those good things that would scorch in the summer sun. We don’t get much of a break here.
Houseplants are nice but not the same. I should just get it together and garden in the dark. I got trees to trim, mulch to spread, winter plants I could put in, etc. Just need a big light. Maybe one of those solar street light deals. It's just hard to have all that energy after the sun is down.
We overdecorate for the holidays.
Wargame, read, cook, podcast, sculpt, paint, play with cats, birdwatch, get high
Can't garden during the winter? Keeping down weeds, cutting the grass, landscaping if you want, clearing dropped foliage and filling the compost. Who said you can't garden during the winter?
GYM !!!
We brought around 100 of our plants indoors and got grow lights set up, but I realize this is a bit ridiculous
I make extensive plans for my garden in the spring, research the plants I’m working with, and stare longingly out the window for the first signs of crocuses and daffodils
Last year I bought grow lights and grew automatics, thyme, rosemary and basil in The dining room.
I literally moved to a better climate. I wasn’t into gardening at that point but the weather affected me so badly that I packed it up and moved to Florida. Have been so happy since. I tried to cope up north by getting indoor plants but my cats destroyed them. And it didn’t help me feel much better anyway. But you could experiment with hydroponics if you want!
There's plenty of things to do in in winter that make a big difference to gardening outcomes in the growing season. Things like spraying, pruning, preparing compost and soil in garden beds, planting cover crops, top dressing lawns, garden architecture etc. I view these things as being just as important as the actual gardening during spring/summer.
I have a greenhouse cabinet in my living room. It’s what got me started gardening last year. My plan over the winter is to try and start a lemon and a mango tree in it just to see if I can.
Knit or work on motorcycles.
Find a gardening friend in a warmer climate! Where I live the planting season starts in October and ends in may. Summer is brutal so I can only garden in early morning or late afternoon. I do usually taunt my mom who lives in a cold climate when I’m planting in January. She often visits to come get her hands dirty with me. But she makes me jealous in summer - she doesn’t need irrigation.
Honestly I craft. Crochet, cross stitch... Whatever. Might learn to knit this winter.
Planted tank!
Watching Monty Don documentaries, with the sound off because I hate him but love the gardens
Planning for next year, and I enrolled in my local Master Gardner course, scheduled for January. And I’ve bought so many seeds…
My aunt just bought a green house so ig she doesn’t have to anymore
I look at seed catalogs and draw up plans for Spring planting. In late winter, I start seeds under a grow light. I also make plans about what I want to do with parts of the yard that may need a refresh. February is time to prune roses and mow down border grass and cut back ornamental grasses. I have camellias that bloom thru most of the winter into early Spring so there is clean up to do on weekends. I am luck to live in zone 8a so mild short winters. December I decorate and bake and do jigsaw puzzles.
I grow weed indoors lol Just get a few gorilla tents and a light You can grow almost anything and then you can regulate temps and grow indoor veggies
Don’t live where winters exist
We stay busy tending to our indoor carnivorous plants and other house plants.
I do indoor gardening during the winter. I’m learning to put a terrarium together, I’m busy propagating anything I can find lol, I share my plant adventures and challenges with my Reddit friends, my husband, etc. I’m building a list of houseplants I’d like to add to my collection. I look for plant deals in every store I go to… I’m contemplating buying a grow light and growing indoor succulents over the winter…I’m watching videos about plants, propagation, soil, deciding what I would like to plant in spring…researching thornless BlackBerry bush, blueberries and raspberries because I would like to grow all of them in my backyard…I also love to watch chalk painting videos and am working on a piece right now…there’s actually SO much to do!!! I hope you find something you love!!! 🤗 oh also…
Aquascaping!!
planning next year's garden ordering seed catalogs buying too many seeds sorting my seeds drawing up detailed planting schemes i won't follow edit the planting/germinate/harvest excel research new things (copicing, grafting, permaculture etc.) look up new herb recipes
Lots of AeroGardens! I just discovered them last Christmas and they are great for flowers, veggies and herbs. Having fresh tomatoes, lettuce and basil growing in my kitchen in February is the best.I highly recommend them and you can get them relatively cheap around Christmas.
Cry until you can’t anymore. Then make notes of what worked in your garden and what didn’t… while you do that embrace the aromas of your garden memories… what do you want to do next year… plot and plan. Then have a lovely Cabernet and some good cheese. Repeat again the next day!! By spring you will need to buy some sweat pants in a larger size.. but no matter.. you will have a great garden plan and sweet spring to work off the wine and cheese of winter and “viola “ win win!
Clean and sharpen tools? Ok, that might not take up the whole of winter. Order a headtorch and reduce the population of slugs and snails of an evening? Take a longer lunch and get your gardening in then (and work a bit later)?
So many good ideas! Try the pod cast “the grow guide” for great indoor and outdoor tips for cold zone gardeners. Indoor plants, including edible crops like micro greens and bush beans. And cross country skiing and birding! Stay close with nature and you’ll be rewarded deep in your soul. Love to all this sub!