Celebrating the winter season | Garden musings with Bri DiMattina

Garden Musings: Celebrating the Winter Season by Bri DiMattina

Just like lots of winter gardeners, I spend a lot of winter dreaming of what I’m going to do in the following spring or summer. And I spend vast amounts of time watching northern hemisphere gardeners, listening to their podcasts and choosing what I want to grow next.

Sometimes we can forget to actually celebrate the winter season. It’s cold outside and the garden doesn’t quite have the same allure as the warmer months. The list of chores still exists but I’ve decided to share a few of my favourite winter garden activities.

So here you go… celebrating the cold wet winter with my favourite things:

Sort your seeds

Pull up in front of the fire with a ‘hot shrub’ (you can find shrub recipes in my book: Nostrana) or Glühwein (German mulled wine), and grab the seed packets from the shed.

I have an evening or two daydreaming and organising my way through the collection, in various categories – what I want to plant now, in spring and in summer. Then I pop the seed packets in the corresponding months in my diary. I check all the dates and then have a ‘cull’ – anything that I know I’m not going to use in the next year, I give away or swap. I used to keep them all, but have realised that it’s better for the viability of the seed for someone else to grow them if I’m not.

Pop a message amongst your friends on social media and trade (gardening penpals, with seeds instead of letters). Creating these little seed packets and parcels to send off is another cosy evening in front of the fireplace.

Have you made seed tape before?

One of those great indoor, in front of a movie kind of jobs that you’ll be pleased that you did. Toilet paper is perfect for this. 

(Sage tips: To make seed tape tear the toilet paper into strips and moisten the paper slightly with water. Place individual seeds on the paper, roughly the recommended planting distance for each type. Allow to dry, then roll up the strip and store it in a cool, dark place. When ready to plant, unroll the seed tape, cover with soil, and water.)

Deciduous tree decisions

I have a few trees, like the fig and magnolias, that need bringing into line and the easiest time to make decisions about the limbs is now – when there aren’t any leaves in the way. I mark the limbs for later.

The usual priorities: anything rubbing against another branch, anything damaged, and then I choose based on the shape I want for the tree. Then if I feel like it, it’s the perfect time to add the fairy lights – for indoor viewing on long winter evenings, and then come summer it’s for sitting under with a cool drink.

Mid-winter Christmas party plan

Do it simply with something slow cooked or roasted, and a sticky date pudding or lemon delicious. Get the blankets, decorate the table with fallen leaves, serve hot drinks and enjoy the cold of winter.

In case you came here for a task…

I love preparing my tomato patch (a big favourite of mine to grow and eat). I boost the soil with a layer of my girls’ finest ground eggshell with the hope that the rain takes it all through the soil – the calcium helps prevent one of the causes of blossom rot. 

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Read more about Bri’s garden and cookbook here

Discover Bri’s recipes here