Check Your Compost

If you have a compost pile or bin, now is a good time to give it a good turnover. When you turn over compost, it allows oxygen in, and the bacteria get happy and continue to break down the materials. It’s not the most glamorous garden job, but it’s one of the most rewarding. Using homemade compost gives you a great sense of satisfaction. 

Move Plants

If you have any perennials that should be moved elsewhere, winter is a perfect time to do that. For example, if you have some Mediterranean herbs in an area that’s too wet, move them somewhere with better drainage.  If a plant is getting too big for its location, now is a good time to divide it. After it’s been divided, move the new plant somewhere else or give it to a friend. Perennial herbs like marshmallow and elecampane benefit from being divided every two years.   

Prune Apple and Pear Trees

If you have an apple or pear tree with excess branches rubbing against one another, it might be time for a good prune. Pruning trees can be tricky, and there is so much different advice, but generally, it’s best to start slowly. Read up on different techniques.   If you go crazy with the clippers, you risk having a small fruit harvest for the year.   Remove any branches that are weak or diseased looking. Remove branches that are rubbing against other branches.  You want to have a strong frame for your tree, but enough open space for adequate airflow and sunlight to make it through.  Prune lightly the first year; next year, you can decide if more pruning is needed. Always use clean and sharp tools when pruning. 

Plant a Winter Flower Container

Brighten up your patio or window box with some beautiful pansies and violas. Both of these flowers tolerate the cold very well and are such a welcome sight on a gloomy winter day. These flowers are excellent in containers and are usually easy to find at many garden centers starting in January. Make a colorful display to help keep the winter blahs away. 

Shop for New Gear

If you didn’t get what you wanted this holiday season, there’s no shame in buying yourself a few treats.  Check out your gardening gear and see what might need refreshing. I can always go for another pair of gardening gloves.  Gardening tools can get broken or worn out after lots of use, so that’s another thing to consider.

Weeding

Is there ever a season where weeding doesn’t need to be done?  Winter can be a great time to eliminate weeds since they are usually tiny. If you’re in a place that’s covered in snow for most of the season, it’s wise to keep your eyes peeled for signs of weeds springing to life once the snow melts.  A little bit of work now can help a lot when spring comes. 

Start Some Seeds

Believe it or not, most of us can start a few seeds in January. Chile peppers can take a long time to get going, so they can be started now (in most places). Onions, leeks, and kale can also be started in some places. Check out this recent blog post, Cold-Hardy Veggies to Start Now in the Southeast, for more details. 

Clean Out Your Seed Box

Since you’ll be starting seeds any time now, it’s a great time to go through and see what you have and what you should toss. All seeds have their own timeline for how long they will be viable.  In general, it’s anywhere from 1 to 5 years.  You can put some seeds in a wet paper towel, keep them moist, and see how many seeds sprout to show how good they are still. If most of them sprout, you can go ahead and use them for this season. Now is a great time to go through your virtual seed box on the Planter App, too. 

Plan Your Garden

January is the perfect time to start planning your garden with the Planter App. With new features and plants being added, creating the garden of your dreams is easier than ever. Let Planter help make this your best gardening season yet!

In broad terms, both herbs and spices come from plants, but herbs are usually the fresh leaves. On the other hand, spices are typically dried, and they make use of many other parts of the plant- root, stalk, seed or fruit. Both herbs and spices add flavor to the dish, however herbs are more subtle while spices have a much stronger flavor.

Plan Your Garden with Planter!

This time, we’re growing a plan centered around spices! This plan is pretty pepper-heavy, simply because of how useful and diverse they are; as usual, this plan is not an exhaustive list of spices, only a suggestion!

If you’re ever looking to grow a spice that isn’t present in Planter, you can add custom plants through the app, or as a premium desktop member! You can find more information about that by clicking here!

Companion/Combative Info

• Onions, while not featured in this post, are a great companion plant to peppers (which make up a large part of our example garden!) Peppers are particularly prone to aphids, and are protected by the pungence of onions and shallots!
• Fennel and dill will play just fine together normally, but if you are looking to harvest the seeds, you might want to give them some healthy space. Some accidental cross-pollinating can cause some strange flavors in both.
• Fennel shouldn’t be planted by peppers- it releases chemicals in the soil to inhibit the growth of competing plants, so your peppers will pay the price. In this plan, we put them in a container of their own to ensure they don’t cause any trouble! If you’d like to learn how to customize your garden view like this, click here!

Commonly used spices:

Coriander

The seed of the cilantro plant, which is also used as an herb! These seeds are often used in a variety of cultures, including Indian and Middle Eastern cuisines. Their mild flavor is put to good work alongside other spices in curries, masala, soups, or even pickles. Heating the seeds before using them will bring out their flavor, so be sure to toast them before grinding them up!

When your plant bolts, let it dry out, and then the coriander should be easy to shake from the seed head!

Fennel

Fennel is used usually as a root veggie, but you can also grow it for the seeds and use them as a spice!

Raw fennel seeds have a fresh licorice flavor, but bringing heat to the table sparks brand new flavors. When they’re cooked, the seeds offer a more sweet and caramelized flavor. These work well as an interesting sweetener for soups, broths, or oils; all you have to do is simmer them in the dish and strain. When ground, they can be a great rub on meats, particularly pork or lamb.

Ginger

Ginger, like many on this list, is a strong and showy participant in dishes! You have to be very careful about how much you use, but its warm flavor compliments many sweet or savory dishes. Try it ground in baked dishes like cookies gingerbread, add it to broth for a delicious ginger noodle soup, or add it to marinades for fish or chicken. No matter how it’s used, it will often take the show due to its strong and bright sweetness. My personal favorite salad dressing is made of carrot and ginger, and is a staple in most hibachi restaurants. This root can also be candied for an explosively spicy-sweet treat!

Peppers

Chili peppers and the like can be considered a spice! When dried, their spiciness takes a whole new level.

Paprika and Cayenne are both made from powdered, dried peppers. However, their levels of spicy are leagues apart. Paprika is made with mild peppers like bells, and isn’t very flavorful by itself, but when smoked it can be a great pairing to tomatoes or meat. On the other hand, Cayenne uses much hotter peppers, and should be used MUCH more sparingly, with care not to touch your face or eyes!

Mustard seed

Did you know- mustard seed is the largest selling spice in the world? It’s included in so many household condiments and pickled foods!

You can grind up the seeds with vinegar or oil to make your own mustard (the condiment), or you can roast the seeds to bring out earthier flavors and rub them into chicken or fish! It’s also key in pickling, and an essential ingredient in relish.

Garlic

Fresh or dried, powdered or minced or crushed, garlic is a very hearty powerful spice great in curry or most savory dishes. This spice is, dare I say, as useful as salt or pepper. After all, what can’t you use garlic in? It’s a staple in italian cuisine, incredible on any kind meat, and it’s even good raw in salsa. Something I’ve seen done before that I really want to try is roasting the cloves (which makes them really sweet) and then spreading them on toast. The only downfall of this pice is its strength- it’s very easy to go overboard.

Rosemary

Rosemary is sort of a grey area- while you typically use the leaves, like an herb, its woodiness would classify it as a spice just like bay leaves. Regardless, rosemary is a warm addition to many dishes. Make sure to mince the needles finely, as their woodiness makes them tough even after cooking.

You can make a rosemary butter that flavors steak, or rub it into rich meats like lamb… or you can bake it into bread (focassia is the popular choice) or even gnocchi. It pairs well with cheese, too, or lemonade. Its warm flavor and smell can add a new dimension to many different dishes, so don’t be afraid to make use of it!

Lavender

Lavender is typically used an herb, but you can use the flowers, buds, or seeds as a spice! Seeds can be steeped in tea, or you can steep them in milk for lavender ice cream. The buds and flowers can be very powerful when dried, and their floral flavor naturally pairs well with sweet flavors and baked goods; however, lavender isn’t a one-trick-pony! When paired with other herbs and spices, they can revolutionize tomato sauces or roasted potatoes.

Dill

These seeds are a key ingredient in an important process- Pickling! But that’s not their only use. Unlike the leaves, dill seeds are enhanced by heat. Toasting these bundles of goodness brings out their flavor and aroma, and they make a good substitute for caraway in breads. Alongside spices like pepper, onion, and garlic, ground dill seed also makes a great rub for pork or steak!

In Conclusion…

Cultivating a spice garden is a delightful journey that brings a spectrum of flavors to your fingertips. From the mild allure of coriander to the bold zest of peppers, each spice adds its unique character to culinary creations. Let your spice garden be a testament to your culinary taste, turning every meal into a celebration of your harvest and the rich tapestry of spices you’ve nurtured. And let Planter be your planning companion, so your garden ideas grow to fruition! Happy growing and savoring!

‘Curry’ is actually a loose, catch-all term that doesn’t properly refer to any specific dish. In its originating culture, each dish would have its own unique name. That being said, many dishes that could be loosely grouped as ‘curry-style’ dishes can be created using many of the same core plants in the garden. Let’s explore some potential ways to plan a culinary curry garden in Planter!

Curry garden base plan

Our sample curry garden base plan starts with a standard 4’ x 8’ garden in Planter. We’ve filled the garden with uber-versatile plants that form the backbone of many great curry dishes:

• Garlic
• Ginger
• Cilantro
• Hot peppers
• Tomatoes
• Onions

Garlic and cooking onions were placed on the outside because they are slow growers and need to be harvested by pulling or forking them out of the soil. Two hot pepper plants might not seem like a lot, but they’ll likely be prolific enough to provide your family with ample chili harvests (of course if you’re major spice lovers feel free to add more!) While cilantro is associated with cuisines from some of the hotter parts of the world, it actually can’t take the heat all that well and has a tendency to bolt. Because of this, you might want to plan to plant your cilantro in successions.

Roma tomatoes were chosen because they are a nice meaty tomato that work well for cooking. Ginger is kept in containers because a) it grows slowly and needs to be started indoors well in advance if you live in a cooler climate and b) the containers can be moved and positioned around the garden so the plants receive dappled sun- ginger loves the heat but not direct, scorching sunlight.

When choosing locations for the plants in your own plan, be sure to position them so they’ll be easily accessible for harvesting and where they won’t shade each other out unintentionally. This base plan is just a starting point that you can adapt to your unique garden conditions.

If you happen to have some more space to play with in your garden, consider branching out into some specific cuisines:

Thai curry garden plan

Thai food is vibrant and features an array of different veggies. To prepare some tasty Thai dishes, the following plants were added to the base plan:

• Peas
• Eggplant
• Carrots
• Lemongrass
• Thai basil
• Thai mint
• Peanuts
• Dwarf lime

The Thai curry garden plan incorporates most of the plants from the base curry garden plan and adds on from there. The serrano chiles were swapped for Thai chiles, and more garlic and onions were added. Lemongrass is a staple ingredient in many Thai dishes- its included in a container so it can be started early indoors and easily transitioned outside. Mint was also added in a container to prevent it from spreading and taking over the entire garden! Basil plays more nicely so it can be incorporated right into the garden bed. If possible, try to find Thai varieties of mint and basil for a more authentic flavor.

For something slightly more adventurous peanuts and a dwarf lime were added to the plan- these ingredients are often incorporated in Thai dishes or used as accompaniments. Peanuts can grow well even in somewhat northern climates as long as you select an appropriate variety and ensure they are planted with enough time to mature. Limes on the other hand are frost sensitive, but dwarf varieties can be grown as container plants that can be brought inside over winter. If overwintering a lime tree seems like too much work, forgo it and plant something else instead- just be sure not to fill the middle of the garden space with plants that will be hard to reach.

Indian curry garden plan

The Indian curry garden plan also works off the same base curry garden plan, but includes some unique ingredients favored in Indian cooking:

• Turmeric
• Cauliflower
• Potatoes
• Okra
• Kidney beans
• Mustard
• Spinach

Turmeric is a plant that spreads and grows by rhizomes, similar to ginger. Since turmeric isn’t available in Planter (yet!) one workaround is to create a custom variety of ginger and name it turmeric (turmeric isn’t technically a ginger variety but this is just a quick fix). Like ginger, turmeric is grown in pots so it can be started well in advance and moved around in the garden to capture the perfect balance of sun and shade.

Cauliflower and potatoes are included in the plan as core ingredients in the popular and delicious dish ‘aloo gobi’. Okra is added as the key component of ‘bhindi masala’, and the kidney beans can be used to prepare delicious ‘rajma’. With drying beans you’ll want to have several plants to get a yield that is substantial enough to make bean-based dishes. Rounding out the list we have spinach and mustard- spinach can be used to make a mouth-watering ‘saag paneer’ and along with mustard greens (and other mixed greens) can be used to create delicious ‘saag’ curries. And if your mustard bolts and goes to seed no worries- mustard seed is also a key spice in many Indian dishes!

We hope these curry garden plans have provided some inspiration to plan a fun and practical cuisine-themed garden! Having all the veggies at hand to create a whole range of dishes will help you make the best use of your garden produce in the kitchen. Planter makes it easy and fun to explore garden design possibilities to compliment your culinary adventures!

Motivation

In past years, I’ve had troubles getting all the components of salsa to grow well. In 2020, I had a bumper crop of tomatoes and peppers, but no onions. That worked out fine, since onions are rather inexpensive to buy at the grocery store. In contrast, in 2021, the only thing that grew well were the onions! The tomatoes suffered due to excessive rain. And the peppers never took off due to poor-quality soil; I built 2 new raised beds and filled each with bags of raised-bed garden soil from Home Depot. Due to the amount of soil, I had to take two trips from the store and it turns out that the second batch of soil was no good, while the first batch (same brand) was excellent.

Valuable lesson learned: even with bagged soil, it’s still worthwhile to get the soil tested. I didn’t realize that the soil was bad until the following year.

Starting the Seeds

In the past I’ve done pretty well starting my tomato plants from seed, so I decided to go that route again. I chose the classic Amish Paste tomato variety. This year, I also decided to grow peppers from seed! I chose two great varieties, King Arthur Hybrid Bell Peppers and Garden Salsa Hybrid Hot Peppers.

I started the tomato and pepper seeds on my workbench with a red-blue grow light. I put about 3 seeds in each container, assuming some of them wouldn’t germinate.

After a few weeks, seedlings emerge!

5 weeks after sowing, I realize that I started the seeds way too early…again (I can’t resist the gardening itch in the middle of winter 😅). At this stage there’s still more than 2 months until I can safely transplant them.

6 weeks after sowing, I started moving the tomatoes into gallon jug containers to encourage better root growth:

8 weeks after sowing, just before transplanting. The tomatoes had gotten so large I had to use their cages to keep them from falling over. I put them on a cart and wheeled them inside the basement door when it got too cold:

On the plus side, the peppers grew really well throughout this entire process. I did transplant them into larger containers mid-way through, but they never grew “leggy” as I feared.

Onion time!

While the tomatoes and peppers were growing inside, it was time to plant the onions outside. Onions are fairly resistant to frost, so it’s safe to plant them before your frost date. I like to use starter onions from Dixondale Farms. Starter onions look like green onions and give your crop a head-start, which is very useful for growers like me in colder climates. This year I chose Walla Walla, Red River, and Highlander onions. Using Planter’s useful spacing info, I started by putting 4 onions in each square foot. But rules are meant to be broken, and after realizing I received several dozen extra onions I managed to fit about 6 onions per square.

In the garden, finally!

Once the chance of frost was mostly gone, it was time to transplant the tomatoes and peppers into their final spots in the garden! I planted corn, beans, and squash (aka the “Three Sisters”) next to the tomatoes. The idea is that the squash will cover the ground, keeping weeds at bay. And the corn and tomato cages will act as a trellis for the beans. In the end, all the beans and squash did was provide snacks for the rabbits 🐰.

I intercropped the peppers with the onions, since they’re good companion plants.

Intercropping also reduces weeds, since the onions shade out much of the ground.

Harvest time!

I was able to make a good deal of fresh salsa from the garden this year! The limiting factor, surprisingly, were the tomatoes. They just weren’t as productive as I had hoped. I did get a decent amount of tomatoes from them, but nowhere near the 2020 yield. My guess is that they were too lanky and overgrown when they were first transplanted. Starting the seeds later in the spring would have resulted in better-supported, healthier plants.

In contrast, the peppers continue to produce heaps of delicious sweet and spicy peppers. Likewise, the onions that were in the pepper bed did really well! I harvested them in mid-August after their stems started falling over. I then laid down some straw to keep the weeds at bay. Once the onions were gone, the peppers received a bit more sunlight which is probably why they’re doing so well now. However, the onions in the raised garden bed with the poor-quality soil did not do well. I’m hoping to rejuvenate the soil in that bed this fall.

I also tried to grow cilantro from seed in the garden, but it didn’t germinate. Later in the summer I tried growing some indoors and it germinated without a problem, which I then transplanted into the garden.

Lessons learned and plans for next season

1. Don’t start tomatoes too early.
2. Test garden soil, even if it comes from a bag.
3. Start cilantro from seed indoors. Or purchase from a nursery.
4. Give the peppers more of a head start, so they’re taller than the onions when they’re transplanted.

I hope you enjoyed reading about my salsa garden adventure! Last but not least, here’s my simple fresh salsa recipe:

Peter’s Fresh Salsa

Ingredients

• 2 medium tomatoes (1.5 cups), chopped
• 1 green bell pepper (¼ cup) , chopped
• 1 small onion (¼ cup), chopped
• 1 jalapeño or garden salsa pepper, chopped (if you like it spicy!)
• 1 Tbsp cilantro, minced
• 2 tsp lime juice
• ½ tsp ground cumin
• ¼ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp black pepper