Burr it’s getting cold outside!
For me winter is more than a season. I do not even follow the official start and end dates of the winter season. When it gets cold I call it winter!
Most winters in the Northeastern US are lifeless, cold months filled with a few fun holiday events. The short days, winter jackets and lack of warm sun drive me to the edge each year. This backyard farmer would hibernate like a chipmunk if I could. Since long winter naps are out of the question I needed to find something else. I looked to my edible gardens for the answer.
Sure there is not much going on in the garden these days, except for some kale, broccoli and hearty carrots. However, our edible gardens have more to offer than meets the eye.
There are memories in the forms of photos, dried herbs and preserved foods. There is also future planning!
So, I have come up with a scheme to keep myself away from the winter blues. Here is what helps me:
1) Regularly viewing photos from seasons past.
Photos can be “harvested” year round
2) Making sure each month has something gardening related for me to do. Seed ordering is the highlight of my winter. My family and I spend most of December and part of January planning our upcoming gardening season and ordering the seeds.
Garden Planning Worksheet from my book
3) Enjoying foods from the previous season. It is amazing how sentimental a few frozen pesto cubes can make me!
Left are frozen basil leaves and right are pesto basil ice cubes
4) Sharing or gifting the herbs we carefully dried during the previous season. We like to get creative as a family and package up our dried herbs for holiday gifts, housewarming items or just because someone else deserves our organic recipe helpers.
picking and packing dried sage leaves for gifts
5) Plan a vacation to someplace warm! There is nothing better than a trip to one of the warmer parts of California or Southern Florida to thaw out my Mediterranean soul. The minute I get off the plane I begin to feel better. Then the sights, sounds and smells of lush, green nature take over. I feel good again!
Big Sur, California. Sunny and upper 80’s!!!
I hope some or all of these tips can help others make it through the cold. How do you shake off the wintertime blues?
So true and helpful, let’s hope it’s a mild one!
I love this post and I can totally relate! My husband and I work out way more in the winter. Not because we’re particularly health minded. But just out of sheer cabin fever lol. I like the idea of going somewhere warm, we haven’t tried that!
Central coast of cali is amazing in february.