Gardening Around the Web: Off-Season Garden Projects

Gardening season is all too short here in the Midwest which leaves us garden lovers with too much time not gardening! Aside from spending that time planning next year's garden, I've found some easy (very easy because I'm lazy) projects that can be done in the off-season to stave off the gardening blues. 

Aluminum Can Plant Markers 
Any project that involves recycling is a project for me! Not having to buy stuff and create even more stuff is a good thing. I like this project not only because it involves recycling but is really simply as well. Many people who commented on the project were concerned about sharp edges and while others who have done this project claim it's a non-issue, others offer easy solutions to combat that if it's a problem for you. The sizes, shapes and labels are only limited by your imagination. I do have to say that I don't quite agree with the author though in her statement that they aren't the most attractive. I love the minimalist industrial design!

Lighted Herb Bookcase 
When I first saw the headline for this project I wrongly assumed this was going to be some complicated woodworking project. Not so! What I love about this is how easy it is to turn something I already have into something functional. I have many prefab book cases I've gotten from various places that I could easily use as a light box. The project suggests using it for herbs which I think is an excellent idea, however, why limit yourself to that? It would also be a great way to add house plants in rooms that don't get much light like north side rooms or the basement. 

Potatoes in a Barrel
More nutritious than a barrel full of monkeys! This isn't exactly an off-season project but I included it because I think it's genius and it may take some planning, particularly if you choose to use a found item rather than purchasing something specific. The basic concept is you plant potatoes in a barrel or other container of proper size in shallow soil. As the foliage grows up, you add more soil and the plant puts down more tubers. When the season is ready, you dump out the container and harvest your potatoes. There is another version here if the barrel thing doesn't work for you. It's basically the same concept but seems more work than I would want to do. However, if you're handy with wood and have scraps laying around, this may be the way to go.

Photo Friday: Hawaiian Water Lily?

Obviously, this little beauty is NOT from Minnesota. We have nothing like this in November, or even October when I actually took the picture. I had to travel all the way to Kona, Hawaii to snap this. It was torture I tell you, pure torture! A cursory Google search turned up nothing specific on what exactly this plant is. I'm assuming this is some sort of water lily since it's growing in a fresh water pond. However, I found nothing matching this under water lily. No matter, it's gorgeous. I love it. I particularly like the coconut floating in amongst the plants. Perfection. 

Planning for Next Spring

Half of the fun of being a Midwest gardener is planning. It has to be! With such a short season, the rest of the year is best spent dreaming about how great our gardens will be NEXT spring. Whether this dream actually comes to fruition is another matter entirely, however, when the ground is frozen there is nothing better than pouring over catalogs and websites to plan for next year. 

With the exception of a few small surprises, I was relatively disappointed in my garden this year. The late start didn't help. The bulk of my tomatoes ripened while I was on vacation in mid-October and promptly froze during that same time period. Weather in Minnesota! The late start in addition to our overly wet weather pretty much did in my garden. At least in my eyes. It was good enough to get my garden selected for the Soroptimist Garden tour next summer however. Add all these things together, late start, bad weather, disappointing turnout AND garden tour yard, you know I've already begun to plan for next year. 

I was hoping to get more done this fall than I actually did but seriously, that whole idea was a complete fallacy because my allergies had something to say about that. Needless to say, I got nothing done. Not really. The weeds are taunting me even now. That's all right, snow's coming...

My first step for next year's garden was to stop at Renee's Garden Seeds for some flower seeds to cover the seemingly acres of bare ground I have in my flower beds. New introductions for 2011 are already available. Some of the seeds I got will go directly into the ground, others I will start indoors earlier to have them blooming by spring. 

In addition to my favorites of narturtiums, Sweet William and cornflowers, I've fallen in love with Zinnias. Yes, Zinnias. I admit, I was not AT ALL in on the Zinnia love fest prior to this summer. My neighbor down the street, however, had them all along the side of her house. Pulling onto my street, the side of her house is the first thing you see. And the zinnias! They were gorgeous! All summer long! I must have them. More exciting is that Renee's Garden has special mixes of zinnias. I chose one called Cool Crayon Colors which is a gorgeous mix of pinks, purples and white. I also plan to throw in some Green Envy Zinnias. Should be beautiful. 

After the garden tour last summer, I fell in love with poppies. The best part about poppies? They are frost hardy and bloom best when planted as early as possible in the spring. Anything I can direct seed and have blooming in June is a plant I want to have. 

Other plants I'm trying for the first time in my garden include Larkspur (my son's birth month flower), Painted Salpiglossis and miniature roses. I've also got seeds for Persian Violet (nigella damascena), White Nigella and Pride of Gilbraltar (cerinthe). The last three I had never heard of before and I'm excited to see what they look like. I'm also aware that many of these reseed although from what I've read, none of them are invasive. Reseeding I love, invasive I don't (you know I'm talking about you Veronica!). I'll see how it goes. 

Besides the seeds, I'm planning to have more ornamental kale, more petunias and better containers. The massive amounts of rain we had did my poor containers no good. I have a multi-tiered container I'm going to turn into a  hardy succulent container because I've given up trying to grow other things in it.  

This is more than I've planned in the past by this time and I'm sure I'll just have more as the winter goes on since I'll have people checking out my yard this spring. 

Have you starting planning for next spring yet? What changes are you making in your garden? What are you planting more of?