What do gardens look like when they are not producing? Winter is a time of rejuvenation in the garden. Sometimes we have a fall garden, but this time we are letting the entire garden space rejuvenate; letting dead plants go back into the earth to add nutrients for the coming year.

Death naturally brings images of sadness. Aging plants like aging people don’t always bring out the beauty that still naturally exists. When we know the story behind those aging people; the life they lived, the purpose they served, or that aging garden; the food it produced, the work that went into it, we tend to look at things a bit differently.

But unlike a person, we are able to see many years of production from this garden in one lifetime. We are able to enjoy year after year of it’s bounty. Gardening to me is an empowering act. We put so much effort into something and sometimes plants are forgiving and sometimes they are not.

Right now this garden is in the process of regenerating. With the help of the sun and rain, old plants are breaking down adding nutrients back into the ground. We will inevitably add a bit more nutrients before we put new plants into the ground, but every little bit helps.

Upcoming garden goals of 2016:

1. Expand
2. Grow more from seed
3. Add more diversification/ varieties
4. Start earlier, with seeds/planning
5.  Solarize soil

I will let you know how it goes, until then…back to work!