Do you enjoy gardening?

[Jazzy]

If you are a gardener you know what season it is.  Yes, here in North America it is indeed still winter.  Snow covers my garden spot, icicles are hanging from the house eves, but I know the garlic and flower bulbs are bidding their time in the rich soil .  The holiday decorations are put away and the parties are past until summer.  But if you are a gardener, you will recognize this as the official beginning of Garden Dream Season.  The daylight hours are increasing, seed catalogs are beginning to come in the mail, seeds and planters are popping up in the hardware stores, and your hands are itching to plant something.  It's still too early to plant vegetable seeds - oh they'll germinate but by spring they'll be leggy and won't harden off outdoors if planted now.  (This is a lesson many of us have learned through sad experience). 

I satisfy my yearning for winter gardening by taking care of my house plants, many of which are blooming beautifully, and others are ready to be divided to give away or to be planted in larger pots.    I think people who garden understand one another.  There is always something to talk about whether it is the rainfall (too little or too much), or pests that nibble away at our hard work, or the intricacies of soil composition.  Who, but a fellow gardener, gets excited by sourcing the right manure?  You know the stuff, it can't be too hot, it must come from healthy animals who are fed weed-free feed (because weed seeds pass intact through the digestive system right into your garden) and the manure must be from animals that have not been treated for parasites.  Those requirements really narrow the field.  Horse manure is the easiest to find, even near urban areas, but horses are usually given worm medicine four times a year.  The anti-parasitic medicine helps the horse but kills the bio-activity in the soil, including the earth worm.  Healthy cattle don't require so much medicine, but healthy cattle are found out on pasture and their manure isn't easily collected because it is so spread out (cattle in feed lots get lots of medication).  What is a gardener to do?  Well many of us keep rabbits.  Their manure is cool and weed free and can go directly into the garden without composting.  Many people like lama manure because a lama is a hearty animal that doesn't need a lot of medicine and is also quite tidy, using one spot to.... um... place it's manure.  I personally have access to very healthy, hearty dairy goats whose don't need medicine.  

Are you a gardener who collects egg shells and coffee grounds all winter long?  Do you garden in pots on a patio, or in raised beds, or lasagna piles, or in rows like a traditional farmer?  Tell me what you are doing to prepare your garden here in the late winter months. 

[craftinglover]

Yes, I really love gardening.  It makes you feel better.  I love growing my own vegetables, like that I know what my family and I are eating.  I also like to grow ornamental plants and flowers.  I collect the vegetables and fruit peels for compost.