Sunday, November 20, 2011

Winter Gardening Advice from Don at Redwood Barn Nursery

I live in a big gardening town.  So naturally I became very interested in gardening when we settled in, but I was lost and confused on how to start this whole gardening process.  I wanted to feel successful and competent at what looked like a very easy and natural activity.  A friend told me about a magical little place call Redwood Barn Nursery and the rest is history!  
I walked into Redwood Barn one warm summer day and there was Don moving passionately among the flowers, vegetables, and organic soil.  I roamed around for a while and then thought, maybe next year...this is a little more involved than I had anticipated (how am I supposed to choose between 15 different varieties of tomatoes?).  But before I left I approached Don and said, "I know nothing about gardening, can you help me?"  Um, help is an understatement.  I'm guessing I learned more about summer gardening in that 1/2 hour than I would have in a month long class.  Why?  Experience.   Don has been operating his nursery for 30 years! So long story short, I left Redwood with a Prius full of dirt, starters, fertilizer and hope.  I can do this!  I was excited, motivated and you know what...I did it.  That summer I became an official gardener.  I fell in love with the process and I don't sweat the technical stuff because Don is there to save the day and keep me feeling competent and successful.  You are a lucky soul if you have a Don in your town to consult when your garden is overthrown by snails, when you can't choose between 15 varieties of tomatoes, when your cabbage stops growing, when you have no idea when to plant strawberries, ph balance what?, when your carrot sprouts disappear or if your soil needs conditioning.  He's the man with the answers, a man with a passion, he's Don, my gardening guru!

I had the pleasure of speaking with Don recently about growing winter gardens here in Northern California.  Although specific to our particular climate and region, his advice translates to similar climates and you could easily adapt the advice to fit your region.  This was our first video, first take.  We will film inside for future videos, as the traffic buzzing by the barn is distracting.  But I wanted to get this video up for those of you still contemplating a winter garden.  It's not too late!
Check out Don's advice on winter planting and come on over to the the Redwood Barn Nursery for your organic seeds and starters! 

Here's what I came home with today
Onion starters (about 20)
Some lettuce 
And garlic (you just pop these cloves right into the ground - so easy!)
One of my garden beds with the addition of today's new finds 
Shared on: Homestead 101
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6 comments:

  1. You have inspired me find some kale and start my own garlic this winter. I LOVE gardening, but have never ventured into the Winter domain! You rock!

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  2. Ah, you made my morning Tessa! Thank you. Looks like we having something else in common - gardening! I love it. Good luck with your winter gardening adventures (and let me know how it goes). :-)

    Be Well,
    --Amber

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  3. our bios read very similarly...cooking, gardening, organizing....cut from the same cloth!

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  4. And I also scrapbook. Can you believe that. Too funny. I see that you are a professional organizer. Ah, a girl after my own heart. I'm a freak about organizing, but in the very best way possible! I'm a person that needs to have a clean, orderly, organized home to feel calm. I get super excited about organizing stuff. I've been known to wake up and declare, "Today we will be cleaning and organizing the garage!" and with the zeal of someone planning a vacation. Clutter makes me crazy. Everything in its place. But this is also very helpful for me, as an organized life equals balance and this is helpful in keeping down stress (and this in turn is very helpful with my Crohn's, as stress is the #1 culprit of flares). My Husband is a reformed clutter bug- he's a good man!

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  5. Yes, clutter stresses me out, luckily, my husband too! I oober excited to purge and clean out things too...a total high for me to clean even one small drawer and get it back in order. Now if i can only wave a magic wand and have my family work with me on keeping things that way! Would you believe I don't have a single close friend that scraps? I have to beg people to work on their pictures with me as I always do better with other people around when it comes to scrapping!

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  6. Well, if we lived in the same town we would have weekly scrapbooking night, allergy-free cooking night, organizing parties,...and and and... :-)

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