How about some gardening in December? Today my kids got me outside and I realized it wasn't as cold as it was gloomy. I finally, after MONTHS put my garden to bed for the winter.

Here's a simple guide to follow if you live in a place with winters.

Step one: Pull out dead plants and pile them in a compost pile.

Take some pictures of frozen peppers because ART.

Step two: Prune yo berries.

Raspberries grow berries on year two canes, so cut down any canes that had berries this year. My strawberries were spilling out of the containers so I cut those down too. Add the cuttings to the compost pile. Apparently strawberries take a lot of cold to actually go dormant, look at those fall colors!

Step three: Collect all your structural supports and clear the garden.

Step four: Mulch that garden!

Spread out your fall leaves, shredded bark, straw, or even plant a cover crop like alfalfa or clover. Come spring, till that goodness right into the earth, it will enrich your soil. See my work, before and after.

Step four: Disconnect watering systems to prevent exploding frozen pipes.

It’s been in the low 30s, down to mid 20s at night for a weeks and I found TWO living plants in my garden. Parsley and one survivor out of six lettuce plants. Both have a “burned” look from when the temperature dropped suddenly, but they’re both growing well now. Mulching these plants can help them stay warmer, like a blanket, so I made sure to surround them with leaves.

A note about weeds. If you recognize a weed that causes you trouble, pull it out. Otherwise, let the weeds stay and mulch on top. The organic material will break down and just add more nutrients to the soil when you til in the spring.

When every planter’s empty outside, it made me happy to peek through my window at a Christmas tree covered in lights. Happy Holidays!

Lauresa