Bailey Van Tassel

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14 Jan 2023
Gardening

January Gardening 2023

This ode to January is from my podcast, The Garden Culture Podcast. Each month I write a dedication to the new month and highlight what’s happening in the garden, forest, and home.

January Inspiration

January is snowflakes on eyelashes, steam off your mug of coffee, and frost-tipped kale. 

While this month marks the beginning of a new chapter for many, nature rolls on as mid-winter affords us time to plan and ponder. 

The month’s fresh wind is both icy cold and wakeful, as we gain some sunlight. For the gardener, it can be Spring’s Spring. A great time to clean, organize, and prepare for the busy season. Seed packets can be organized, new seeds ordered. Tools and pots cleaned and sanitized, an inventory of soil and amendments taken. 

In the home, we’re baking and combining the bustle of new goals with the slow drip of winter’s beckoning to sit still by the fire. Beeswax candles and soft light fill our evenings, a daily tea time is something we’re leaning into for the sake of civility and rhythm. 

The days are lengthening and this month’s full moon falls on January 6th. This is a great moon for setting ambitious goals and fresh intentions. If you’re like me, you need to feel the energy of the new year before choosing a word or theme. This moon is a great place to start with your annual stock-taking and internal plan-making. 

In the garden, bare-root trees and roses can be planted, as can many cool season crops for growers in mild climates. The succession sowing and even new seed starting has not ceased, even with this being the coldest month for most zones. Parsnips, brassicas, potatoes.  Mulch plays an ever-active role and should not be discounted. Consider adding epsom salt to fruit trees, just before a good rain, as well as sow some seeds before all that yummy natural nitrogen comes down. If there is snow on the ground for you, consider just a walk through the garden to refresh your heart. 

Foraging in winter is often a rare occasion though not ruled out. Conifer needles, like pine needles, are readily available, as are birch bark and branches – the inner bark a flour substitute. Maple syrup of course is being tapped out of trees, acorns and dock seeds being gathered. Rose hips are a bright spot on the horizon, as are hawthorn berries and wild cranberries. 

We can also find treasures like early nettle, watercress, yarrow,, miner’s lettuce, and chickweed. Dandelion and Chicory roots are making an entrance – a great coffee substitute when roasted. 

The one task I would recommend really leaning into this month is garden planning. What do you want to plant and where, how can you improve as a gardener? Consider seasonal eating this year and working to think first on what is available and ripe, then on what to make for meals. 

With so much pressure around the start of the year, I urge you to listen to your own inner voice. If rest is what you need, don’t rush into setting a resolution. If you’ve got a burst of creativity knocking, then by all means, pursue it.

TAGS:january gardrningthe garden culture podcastwinter garden
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Hi I’m Bailey

Hi I’m Bailey

Teaching you how to grow veggies in any space while show you how to live a garden-inspired life.

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Bold move, right? One of my girlfriends told me to do this and raved about the benefits (she always knows the good stuff - she’s that girl). But, I did some research too. 

One clove of raw garlic a day has myriad health benefits. Yes it has to be raw. You cut it and let it sit out a minute so the allacin can form which is the healing component in garlic. Then just take with water. 

It’s not just amazing for cooking, but also repairing us from the inside out and boosting immunity.

So, are you game for a clove a day?? I know, it seems cringey but you don’t even taste it - the upside is just too good!
•
Follow

Bold move, right? One of my girlfriends told me to do this and raved about the benefits (she always knows the good stuff – she’s that girl). But, I did some research too.

One clove of raw garlic a day has myriad health benefits. Yes it has to be raw. You cut it and let it sit out a minute so the allacin can form which is the healing component in garlic. Then just take with water.

It’s not just amazing for cooking, but also repairing us from the inside out and boosting immunity.

So, are you game for a clove a day?? I know, it seems cringey but you don’t even taste it – the upside is just too good!

17 hours ago
View on Instagram |
1/4
I took this advice seriously 🌸 

But “for real life” as my four-year-old says, the more I focused on turning my life into a heaven on earth, creating happiness with my own hands, the more I just felt so at home with myself. 

Growing food is so poetic to me (as you can probably tell) because it truly takes our hands and fills our hearts - our lives - with joy, resilience, and confidence. 

It’s also fun to see progress! This started out as an in-ground garden and has evolved immensely. 

Any garden design questions - leave them here 👇🏼
•
Follow

I took this advice seriously 🌸

But “for real life” as my four-year-old says, the more I focused on turning my life into a heaven on earth, creating happiness with my own hands, the more I just felt so at home with myself.

Growing food is so poetic to me (as you can probably tell) because it truly takes our hands and fills our hearts – our lives – with joy, resilience, and confidence.

It’s also fun to see progress! This started out as an in-ground garden and has evolved immensely.

Any garden design questions – leave them here 👇🏼

3 days ago
View on Instagram |
2/4
This is MY list of top 4 must-know things. It doesn’t have to be yours. But after years of guiding people through hardiness zones 3 through 10, I can tell you there’s a difference in each one when it comes to timing and temperament. 

And then your very own microclimate will determine a ton. This is a personal thing that no one can really deeply help you with. Not even your neighbor. Every outdoor space has nooks and crannies that behave uniquely. And altitude and valleys and hillsides and salty ocean air versus humid tropical air, etc etc will determine a lot. So just pay attention. Be curious. 

Then we need to know the purpose of it all. Mine mixes function, health, beauty, and adding magic to my children’s lives all wrapped up in one. 

Of course then the sun you get is crucial. We all dance around the fireball in this crazy solar system, and we can’t change our positioning to it. 

The list goes on, but this is where I start. 

Are your top 4 different?
•
Follow

This is MY list of top 4 must-know things. It doesn’t have to be yours. But after years of guiding people through hardiness zones 3 through 10, I can tell you there’s a difference in each one when it comes to timing and temperament.

And then your very own microclimate will determine a ton. This is a personal thing that no one can really deeply help you with. Not even your neighbor. Every outdoor space has nooks and crannies that behave uniquely. And altitude and valleys and hillsides and salty ocean air versus humid tropical air, etc etc will determine a lot. So just pay attention. Be curious.

Then we need to know the purpose of it all. Mine mixes function, health, beauty, and adding magic to my children’s lives all wrapped up in one.

Of course then the sun you get is crucial. We all dance around the fireball in this crazy solar system, and we can’t change our positioning to it.

The list goes on, but this is where I start.

Are your top 4 different?

4 days ago
View on Instagram |
3/4
Turns out I just needed to let what I had be enough. 

Many of you have watched this journey unfold from day one. I am so grateful to have gotten to prove to myself and others that you can make whatever you have, bring joy and connection and contentment. 

Along the way you may just uncover a passion, career, purpose, and dreams that you never realize would come to manifest. 

If you have ANY garden limitations, share them here. We’ll troubleshoot ‘em together!
•
Follow

Turns out I just needed to let what I had be enough.

Many of you have watched this journey unfold from day one. I am so grateful to have gotten to prove to myself and others that you can make whatever you have, bring joy and connection and contentment.

Along the way you may just uncover a passion, career, purpose, and dreams that you never realize would come to manifest.

If you have ANY garden limitations, share them here. We’ll troubleshoot ‘em together!

6 days ago
View on Instagram |
4/4

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