The new year – 2025 – is here, along with bright sunshine and crystal clear blue skies. Alas. An Arctic cold front is lurking in the forecast, a reminder that it is, after all, January in Texas. Time to find the outdoor faucet covers and frost cloth for pipes and plants will need tucked in for a few nights. (As do our pets.)
I was wandering about the garden this afternoon, assessing the chores that need tackled this weekend. One of the roses that survived the early waves of rose rosette disease is now inflicted and must be bagged and removed immediately. Leaves are a constant chore this time of year. As much as I would love to “leave them all be” (bad pun intended), we would be knee deep in leaves if we didn’t do something about them. Plants were bought in early fall to redo a few shadier spots of the property and they really need to be tucked in the ground sometime soon. I have space remaining for a few more winter vegetables and herbs, if I am inclined to add some. The upcoming freeze will mean even more open planting space, as the last of the tomatoes and peppers can be cut back now and carted off to the compost pile. But the first order of business tomorrow – Winter Protection. There is always something to do in the garden, isn’t there? Sometimes enjoyable work. Sometimes not so much. I dread removing yet another large, well established rose bush, yet I am looking forward to planting more winter vegetables, knowing I will appreciate them come February. One must find that balance in the garden – and in life! – to keep the spirit alive and energized and not too overwhelmed. Sometimes we need a little reminder that beauty is all around us, for it is easy to get bogged down in the chores and overlook the beauty that surrounds us.
“It is the beauty within us that makes it possible for us to recognize the beauty around us. The question is not what you look at but what you see.” ~ Henry David Thoreau
The verdant greens of winter, such as the collards above and the mustard greens below, are especially captivating. So much flavor and nutrition packed in every deeply veined and textured leaf. Greens – including kale, lettuce and Swiss chard, can be planted from fall through winter in North Texas. They are easy to start inside to transplant outdoors as weather and space permits. Transplants are also readily available at most garden centers. Cilantro, a cool season herb, can also be planted outside this time of year and only needs winter protection when the temperatures drop in to the 20’s as they will this weekend.
“If you truly love nature, you will find beauty everywhere.” ~ Vincent Van Gogh
I am constantly amazed at the beautiful fungi that grow on the logs that edge my vegetable beds, proving that there is beauty even in the decomposition of nature.
“Every man should be born again on the first of January. Start with a fresh page. Take up one hole more in the buckle, if necessary, or let down one, according to circumstances; but, on the first of January let every man gird himself once more, with his face to the front, and take interest in the things that are and are to be, and not in the things that were and are past.” ~ Henry Ward Beecher
Tomato seeds were sown indoors in the first few days after Christmas and a few are already poking up out of the soil. It is always good to remind myself not to count my chickens before they hatch, but it is hard not to feel overly optimistic about the upcoming spring garden season when those first tomato seedlings emerge.
The edible garden in January:
Watch for onion slips/sets to arrive at garden centers soon. They can be planted outside this month.
Swiss chard can be sown either indoors or outside.
Lettuce, kale and collards are best sown inside then transplanted outdoors. (Be sure to harden off young transplants.)
Sow tomato seeds indoors, for spring planting.
Eggplant and peppers can be sown indoors in mid-January for spring planting.
Fruit trees and berries are arriving at garden centers now. Shop early for best selection. Be sure to research best varieties for your area and mature sizes for your garden space.
January is also a great time to prepare new vegetable beds for spring planting.
Photographs taken January 3, 2025, in my southern Denton County, Texas, garden.
the melodious garden 