The Slow Weeks When Nothing Is Growing
There are a few weeks each winter when the back yard genuinely has nothing happening in it. Here is what I've learned to actually do with that stretch, instead of rushing to fill it.
Junko Hale
Storing Bulbs and Tools Without a Shed
I have no shed, no shelter, and no permission to build one. Here is what I actually do with bulbs and tools over winter in a rented rowhouse, including the first attempt that went badly.
When I Actually Order Seeds Now
My seed ordering used to be pure impulse, driven by whatever caught my eye on a slow evening. Five years in, I've found a timing that works better, mostly by getting it wrong first.
The Real Limits of Indoor Growing in a Rental
I've tried to stretch the growing season indoors for five winters now, and the honest answer is that a rented rowhouse with no permanent fixtures allowed has real, physical limits I've had to accept.
Planning Next Year From the Notebook
Every January I sit at the kitchen table with five years of handwritten pages and work out next year's plan from what actually happened, not from what I hoped would happen.
What Actually Survives a Rowhouse Winter
Five winters into gardening this small rented back yard, I've stopped hoping and started paying attention to what genuinely makes it through, and what I quietly let go of instead.
Timing the Last Seed Harvest of the Year
Saving seed from my own plants at season's end sounds simple until you're standing over a drying pod trying to decide if today is the day. Here's how I actually make that call, and where my notebook comes in.
The Fall I Planted Garlic Too Early and Paid For It
Eager to get ahead one September, I put my garlic in weeks before I should have. It came up fast, grew tall well before winter, and I ended up with a harvest I wasn't proud of the following summer.
Closing Down the Back Bed When You Can’t Build Anything
My landlord's lease is clear about no permanent structures in the yard, which meant I had to figure out an entire end of season routine using only things I could set up and take apart myself.
Why I Stopped Trusting the Average First Frost Date
I used to circle the average first frost date on my calendar and plan around it like a deadline. One October it arrived nearly two weeks early and I lost a whole tray of seedlings because I hadn't been watching anything but that number.