It's January: Start Thinking Garden!

Now that the holidays are behind us, Mary of My Northern Garden is marking the new year and looking ahead to the 2009 growing season with a reflection on Garden Resolutions. The Green Grower blog at the Daily Green offers a good perspective on what's important as you get ready for spring gardening with a post on Seven Habits of Great Gardeners (hint: they pretty much boil down to "feed the soil, not the plants"). The seed catalogs are trickling in -- in fact, if you're on a lot of lists, they may be flooding in.

January is the gardener's time to dream and plan and make lists: new varieties to try, new garden beds to prepare, new garden layouts for those mindful of the benefits of rotating crops to different areas of the garden. Soon it will be time to order seeds and to start seedlings for some crops indoors.

For people who are cutting back on their discretionary spending, a fairly modest investment in seeds and some basic gardening supplies can translate into both a satisfying pastime and fresh, edible results that can save on your grocery bills from spring into fall and beyond.

If you don't have your own garden space, or need more, the Greenvale Park Community Garden is offering full and half plots on a first-come first-served basis for 2009. The cost of a full plot is only $25, and water is provided. Applications will be accepted beginning February 2 and can be downloaded from the website or picked up at Greenvale Park Elementary School, the Community Services Office, Northfield Public Library, or the Community Action Center.

Happy gardening in 2009!