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January is not one of my favorite months. It doesn’t include any good holidays and it’s long. And cold. And icy. February is short, it sports a cute holiday (Valentine’s Day), and it’s the month next to March (which boasts the onset of Spring–very exciting!). December has Christmas. January? January’s the one month of Winter that’s got nothin’. Nothin’ but cold. And ice. And it’s long. Did I mention the long part?
To ward off January depression (it’s SO FAR AWAY FROM SPRING), one of my New Year’s traditions has become to plant a little indoor garden using herb kits and also an amaryllis or paper whites. Knowing my penchant for this January activity, usually someone gifts me the materials at Christmastime.
Usually, I end up killing the herbs, by either drying them out or rotting them out, but I’m pretty successful with the amaryllis or paper whites.
In spite of the fact that the herbs are most likely doomed, I enjoy the sense of hope it gives me to plant them. It’s simple and quick and it makes me feel like I’m gardening. (Maybe someday I’ll have an actual greenhouse and do real gardening in January!) The herb kits come with cute little pots and seeds and peat cakes to reconstitute.
It would, of course, be more frugal to use little pots I already own and plant my own seeds. But there’s something corny and cheesy about these little herb kits that I love. I’m just playing here. Dreaming. These corny, cheesy little herb kits fit right in. (They’re pretty inexpensive.)
The directions are simple. Just drop a peat cake in each tiny pot.
And add a couple teaspoons of water.
The amaryllis is more complicated. Really. Hey, you have to be sure you stick the root side down. Some years, I’ve done that wrong….. It comes with a big peat cake to which you add 3 cups of water.
It overflowed the pot because I forgot that I should have reconstituted it in a separate bowl. I had to take some of the peat out so I could fit the amaryllis root in there.
There was too much of the peat with the amaryllis anyway, but since some of the peat cakes hadn’t worked right in the herb pots, I used the extra as replacement.
In about six weeks, I’ll have a beautiful red amaryllis bloom.
I made little signs for each row of herb pots. One kit was “Italian” herbs–basil, oregano, and parsley. The other was “fragrant” herbs–mint, catnip, and more basil. The packages say GUARANTEED TO GROW. We’ll see.
It doesn’t really matter.
I feel the spirit of my sweet Spring come upon me when I look at them, and for these long, cold, icy weeks of January ahead, that’s exactly what I need.
4:07
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I got one of those little green houses that look sort of like a closet rack w/ a zip-up plastic cover. I may just see what I can kill, er I mean grow in it!
Happy New Year!
Rys
5:25
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New year greetings to you and the hope that we all stay warm!
6:10
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And I’m going to go find me something green to plant here soon too – I love that idea. I’ve been getting my seed catalogs in the mail and dreaming already…sooon! I doubled my garden size last year and did great – might try and do that again this year!
6:27
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I love gardening in the winter! Do you keep the amarylis bulbs from year to year? You must have lots of them. They are so beautiful! Do you plant the paperwhites in the garden when they are finished? They probably won’t bloom the following year, but they should the year after.
I plant seeds early for the garden in Jan/Feb. It helps get me through the winter. They sometimes get a little leggy by spring but I try to only plant the things that can go into the garden as soon as the ground thaws or the ones that take months to germinate. The tender things I leave until April.
I have been planting a few things last week and yesterday. I planted about three dozen canna lily seeds last week. I had to use the drill on high speed with a metal rasp to pierce that seed coat, but they are all planted now. Yesterday I planted chichiquelites, new and interesting. I also planted daturas.
6:33
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I was thinking of working on some of my Christmas presents for next year this month, then maybe November and December won’t be quite so busy and I can enjoy it more!
6:39
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6:52
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My great delight this year is that I brought in a begonia I’d had by my front door and it’s still covered in coral-pink blossoms! I hope it lives through the winter so I can refresh it outside in the summer.
I think it’s really important to have some blooming things in the house over the winter to chase off the gloom.
And now the seed catalogs are arriving and the dreaming can begin!!!
7:10
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Just remember “Hope springs eternal” I just bet this is the year you will have lovely fragrant herbs in your kitchen to enjoy all winter long—saw that on a commercial!
It is nice just to have that feeling of growing something. The paper whites are so beautiful. Keep us posted as to how things are growing.
JO
7:17
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What else do you need? LOL.
Maybe I’ll do this with teacups and potting soil this weekend. I know I have seed packets around here….
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8:20
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I also have a new Amaryllis and some Paperwhites to plant, as well as 4 Amaryllis from previous years. Flowers and plants sure do help me get through the cold months of winter while I dream of spring.
We have more snow falling this morning and 24º, but the forecast is for lows in the single digits for the next few days. Brrrr!
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9:01
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I love the idea of an indoor herb garden!
Susan
9:02
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9:07
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I love amaryllis, they make me look like a real gardener, and they are so fast growing!
9:09
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9:28
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Wonderful way to brighten the doldrums of January !
Hope they grow well for you, Suzanne!
Anne
9:37
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Thanks for the idea. I’m off now to put up Christmas and then off to Calloways Nursery or Walmart or some place that sells herb kits!
Have a great day.
10:16
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10:34
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I love the little indoor herb garden, where did you find it?? Maybe that would help some of my winter blues/cabin fever.
10:57
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11:14
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http://www.wintersown.org/wseo1/How_to_Winter_Sow.html
It really does work – I’ve tried it with everything from lettuce to hollyhocks to poppies – and had huge successes. You don’t have to water – you don’t have to weed – you don’t have to worry about the temperature because nature will grow those seeds when it is the right time in the spring, with no help at all from us – well, except for filling the plastic containers and putting in the seeds.
To mark the contents of each container I used sticky label paper – cut it in strips – foled it around the handles (if I used mild jugs) and wrote on it with a sharpie. Other things I labeled on the bottom – but had to be careful not to tip them when looking for the name. Of course lots of things I could recognize from their first leaves.
One year I didn’t get everything planted out and the poppies grew right up through the hole in the top of the milk jug. It is fun to use this method – and lets you plant lots of stuff in the winter – anytime in the winter – and have extra early plants. Just make sure the critters don’t bother the containers if they tend to be nosy. Enjoy Oh – and they will also send you free seeds – can’t beat that!!!!
11:33
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An alternative to a greenhouse would be a cold box, just an old window over a hole or insulated box. You can grow some veggies all winter long! To bad you have to harvest in the cold
Good luck with your January garden!
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12:50
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I like the wintersown link (thank you!) … I don’t have many plastics saved (space issues) but know that the local dollar store sells aluminum pans with clear covers for baking and taking. They should make successful mini greenhouses … what a happy excuse to start something green in murky January.
1:24
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A Happy New Year to you, your family and all your readers, Suzanne.
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Euni
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9:13
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January does seem like the longest month of the year…but with those seed catalogs already coming and the craft projects, crocheting, scrapbooks and early seed planting the time will go fast..
You have such a nice greenhouse window…I would think you could grow many wonderful plants there…Morning sun would be best..does it get morning, evening or all day sun?….I always wanted a greenhouse window, so I could snip herbs in the kitchen as needed when I cook…Blessed you…The only herbs that overwinter here is our large Rosemary bush..some oregano, and chives..so far our parsley is staying beautiful..so green….but a few more nights of these 20 and below temps it will be gone too…
9:57
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Keep us updated on the progress of your inside herb garden. I hope this year it does well for you
10:28
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10:10
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I bake up a King Cake (or two or three) during this season and decorate the house with purple, green and gold lights and decorations.
We make more Cajun and Creole foods as well. It’s very festive!
Mel
11:28
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