Where to begin? At the end? Yes, it’s finally the end of the old year that brought us so much turmoil and turned our lives upside down. So let‘s happily wave good-bye to 2020 and look forward expectantly to 2021.
There is much hope in the air now with vaccines on the horizon so that we will be able to once again meet with our friends and family. It may not be right away, but that time is coming!
As gardeners we are always looking forward—to trying that new plant, to starting seeds for the garden, to rearranging what we have in a more pleasing or fruitful way and of course to the harvest, whether it be blooms or food.
With that in mind, this month we are thinking of ways to repurpose the old year with its lessons and remnants into useful experiences to guide us forward. We can use up old items, rework our garden plans and figure our way onward. The club staff is working hard to keep IDGC relevant for you. We are planning more videos and workshops (virtually at the moment) as well as timely articles for the newsletter. We look forward to holding meetings again in person in a few months.
So now let us look to 2021 with hope; with expectation; with gratitude for a year with beautiful blooms and full harvests that we can share with each other.
Let us begin anew!
It’s January so there’s no gardening to be done now, right? After all there is snow on the ground… so, no gardening. Wrong!
Now is the time to get those seed and plant catalogs. There are lots of seed catalogs out there including exclusively heirloom seeds. You can also find native plant and seed catalogs.
Some of the well known seed businesses are Burpee, Gurney’s Seeds, Johnny’s Selected Seeds, Park Seeds, 
If you want native trees, shrubs or bushes, try the Missouri Department of Conservation. They sell their seedlings in bundles of 10, 25 and 100 with prices starting at 90 cents each. At that price you can plant several in each spot and when they grow, cull out the weaker plants. My daughter bought some of these. They came as one-foot tall sticks that she planted in the spring and grew to 3 foot bushes by fall.
So January is the month to: 1) send for the catalogs, 2) make a list of the seeds and plants you would like to try, and 3) draw a diagram of your garden and where you want to put all the plants that you are going to grow this spring and summer.
Next month we’ll talk about starting those seeds. Check out Beth’s Corner for some tips for reusing some of those pretty colorful Christmas cards you receive each year, instead of recycling them.
