Garden Update: Winter 2025
It’s March! That means I need to get my act together. Before I know it it will be time to plant all my seedlings out. This past weekend in Northern Utah was so beautiful. Saturday and Sunday were both in the high 50’s. Perfect time to get outside and check on all my over wintered plants.
But first stop was the compost bin. I had turned the compost last fall and removed all the finished compost to a giant bin ready to go into the the garden. Of course that bin sat out all winter and was fine as we had a relatively dry winter until late January, then we got atmospheric river after atmospheric river coming from California and suddenly the bin with compost was now a giant ice cube of compost covered in snow, until this weekend when it completely melted out. Now it was a bin of compost tea. So I had to drain that. I do not recommend letting any plant materials sit in stagnant water, the smell of anarobic material suddenly being released into the wild is stomach turning. Once I liberated the compost from it's watery jail I spread it out on to the garden beds to air out and dry up.
Compost lessons to be learned?
All ways cover your compost
give it plenty of air
don’t let it drown
After the compost saving, I moved on to checking on all my potted plants and trimming off dead material. This a good thing to do as the winter starts to come to an end. I find that plants know way better than we do what the weather is going to be. I look for signs of the plants waking up and sending out new growth. Despite the gorgeous weather almost all my plants were still asleep. The mints are almost always the first to wake up. We had some very cold stretches this winter so I think the plants are much more cautious. However the strawberry plants are putting on new growth along with the yarrow! You gotta love yarrow, it can with stand temperatures low as 0 degrees up to the low hundreds. It’s such an incredible survivor.
Most of the exciting stuff is happening inside. Our seedlings are doing fantastically. If you haven’t started your seeds yet here’s what you can get going:
Spring Planted Crops in Northern Utah
kale
chard
spinach
lettuce
onions
cabbage
kohlrabi
broccoli
Pretty much all your brassicas. They like cool weather so the more you can get them going early the better off you are. If you are new to gardening or if you are seasoned gardener looking for a great seed company check out my 12 Favorite Seed Companies list. These are companies I’ve used for over a decade.
My garden partner and I built a potting bench last fall. What a good idea. We had previously been using a plastic folding table, which is great if you are ok with having to wash it down before putting it away, are ok with it being a little wobbly and not being so flat. But the potting bench we built is made of upcycled materials from other projects , it’s heavy and sturdy as could be. You can stand on it and pretend to surf and it won’t budge an inch. This is definitely one of those times when more is more and having a very specific tool for a specific job is the key to productivity. With a permanent station now set up for all things plant related the barrier to entry is eliminated. Let the growing season begin!
Do you have a garden? Have you started planting seeds yet? Let me know in the comments below.
