January Garden Tasks | Becca Grows Stuff

Oh January.

The holiday season has just gone by, leaving a hazy shade of winter behind. The daylight hours are getting longer now (yay!) but the weeks between New Year’s and the spring equinox always seem eternally long.

But fear not, gardeners! You can calm your gardening itch a little this month, even if the yard is completely covered in white, fluffy snow.

Here is a short list of gardening related tasks you can complete this month to help you get prepared for the months to come.

Disinfect any seed starting containers you’ve tucked away.

Take inventory of your seed collection and see what you might be running low on. It might be a good idea to do a germination test on any older seeds that may have questionable viability.

Order seeds if you need to. Or, you know, order seeds if you don’t need to…

Inventory your supplies, like seed starting soil, that you’ll be using within the next month or so.

Winter sow. Check out how to do that by reading this article!

Test any seed starting equipment like heat mats, grow lights and temperature gauges.

Grow and enjoy some microgreens indoors, or perhaps some sprouts for your chickens.

Turn your compost. Yes, you can still compost in winter!

Lay mulch around your perennials and overwintered plants if you haven’t already.

Clean and store pots that aren’t in use, so they are ready for the upcoming season.

Enjoy the countless seed catalogues coming in the mail! Christmas 2.0.

Start planning your garden and drawing up garden plans.

Knock heavy snow off of bushes and trees to save their branches from breaking.

Recycle your Christmas trees, compost them, or donate them to someone with goats.

Keep water and food out for birds. There are plenty of species that hang around in the winter and would appreciate some food and a fresh water source.