March in the Garden at the Farmhouse
The Garden in February at the Farmhouse
I had big plans for this month.
February was going to be my month to start working in my greenhouse. I was going to get ready to plant my cold season starts.
There are shelves to build, and I want to put a garden box on the floor. It also needs some plastic and gravel on the ground for weed control.
December and January were mild in temperature. I was actually feeling concerned because if it doesn’t get cold for a prolonged period of time we tend to have more insects, and plant diseases. But just as February began, it started to snow and it hasn’t stopped. Consequently I had to change my plans.
I spent a lot of time outside shoveling snow this month. First I got to shovel off about two feet of snow from the greenhouse roof so it wouldn’t collapse. I also cleaned the gutters so that the snow could slide off on its own better.

Mostly this month has just been a lot of shoveling and taking care of our chickens.
Due to the snow our chickens have needed a little extra attention. We are in gardening zone 6 but the Master Gardeners and old timers in this area all say its more like a zone 4.
I was raised in the middle of the high country of Wyoming, a true zone 4. Now that we live in Northern Idaho I often compare the climate to the climate of my youth.
I find that frost comes much later in the fall and the snow is often gone by early March here in the Inland Northwest. Most of the after it snows the temperatures warm up and it melts within a few days. This year however, spring seems so far away.
Chicken water in the winter takes extra work.

We don’t have access to water outside the house in the winter. Even in the summer the spigot is about a quarter of an acre away from the chicken coop. Normally we just run a hose across the property, but in the winter it becomes a little more difficult.
Lucky for me I found a simple little water jug with vertical nipples from the farm store for the birds to use in the winter. It plugs into a power source to keep it just slightly warmer then freezing.
I had to bring the oyster shells into the house and defrost and wash them. The chickens need oyster shells for calcium to build strong eggshells. The container had been exposed to the elements and the chickens no longer had access due to it being frozen. I also washed all the dummy eggs.

Shoveling the enclosed chicken run was a top priority. It doesn’t have a cover on it yet so there was quite a lot of snow in there. The girls have been free ranging since last September but now the snow is so deep they don’t venture out much. They need to be able to come out of the coop so they can get some exercise.
We also have to keep the coop cleaner in the winter because it is so wet. The chicken coop is water tight but since the birds stay inside so much they just make it wet when they poop.
It helps to keep the moisture level down and the eggs clean if I clean out the pine shavings about once a month. I also give the birds fresh bedding. A sprinkling of Zeolite powder on the fresh bedding helps adsorb some of the moisture and odor.
There is folklore that “In years when the Mountain Ash bears heavy fruit the winter will be hard”.
There is a large number of Mountain Ash trees in our area. Last summer I watched them grow heavy with berries. One of our trees actually broke a large branch due to the weight of the berries and it landed on our scarecrow and busted him in half. I have been watching the trees and taking note of the “wives tale” for a few years now. When I told my friends about my plan to see if the folklore was true they all told me that we had a forecast for a very mild winter.
Due to how the winter started it seems we were on track to have a mild winter. Now things have changed and the snow is deep and the temperatures are cold.

In January hundreds of birds ate all the berries from the trees in a single day. l feel sad for them since most of the food reserves are gone now and the snow is going to take a long time to thaw.
I know spring will come but its going to be weeks before we see the ground again out there. For a fun project the kids and I hung suet up in the trees for the birds.
Since there is not much to do outside we will continue to plan and dream of our garden plans for the spring. Hopefully next month I can show you my updated greenhouse!
Can you garden where you live this time of year? I would love to hear about your garden plans in the comments below.

The Garden in January at the Farmhouse
January in our garden is quiet and cold. Nothing grows outside but there is a lot growing inside. January is the time to start growing your garden dreams and preparing to make them a reality.
January is all about the planning, especially if you live in a Northern climate.
This is the time you get to dream about what you want to grow, and look out your windows and imagine it growing out in your landscape.
We spend January planning where we are going to build the new garden beds and what plants to invest in. I also plan out what veggies we are going to grow. I go online and find seed companies and request their catalogues. The kids and I look through them and circle things that we like the most.
Then we make lists.
We make lists of what plants to move, and what needs built. We make lists of what needs purchased wither it be tools, dirt, gravel or building materials. Then we put the list in order of top priority.
Sometimes I will spend time drawing out what I want the garden to look like in using linear perspective. That’s when I draw a 3D image on a 2D surface. You don’t need an art degree for this, just an imagination and a pencil. I try not to get hung up on perfection; I draw large shapes that are approximations of what the plants will look like in the high growing season. If I am really motivated I color it in.
In January we put in our seed order and celebrate when it arrives.
We can’t move on to springtime gardening without our plan and seeds. We need the seeds in hand so we know what to start early in the greenhouse and the supplies we will need to get them started.
Why should you order seeds from a reputable seed company? Why not just buy them off the rack at your local big box store?
The bottom line is that cheap seed is actually more expensive. Seeds from a reputable seed company save you time and money in the long run because the plants are more likely to grow and be healthy.
If you want to learn more about why that is you can read more about it here.
We just got our seed order for the year and we are so excited!
Take a peek in our box and see what we got. The hopes are high, the excitement is growing.

I try to pick out varieties and plants that I know we will eat. My family can be picky so I know not to spend money on a ton of items that no one will enjoy or eat.
We keep our seed order simple and sweet. It came in the other day and now we can move on to the next stage of our garden prep, planning our greenhouse shelves.
I am not affiliated with High Mowing Organic Seed, we just love them and have used them for years. There are many other awesome seed companies out there to choose from. If you want a list go here and scroll down to the bottom of the post.
January check list.
- Make a list of what you want to grow
- Do a tool inventory and see what you need or need to replace
- Contact seed companies and get their catalogs
- Spend some time trying to visualize your garden as its growing
- Pick out your varieties of vegetables you want to buy and price out your budget
- Put in your order
- Plan for any structures you need to build, garden boxes, compost ect. and make a budget
