Don’t let a little snow stop the seed sowing and garden planning

It’s time for a community collaboration of the winter gardening variety. I know there’s still snow on the ground (sort of), but it’s not too early to start thinking about gardening and landscaping. After all, the daffodils and crocuses will pop up before we know it!

Free seed sowing workshop at the library

Did you know the Rachel Kohl Community Library has a Seed Library and a Garden Club? The Seed Library is hosting a Milk Jug Seed-Sowing Workshop this Sunday, January 19, from 3:30 to 5:00 p.m. I know, during the Eagles game. 😬 But if you don’t have plans to watch the game, this could be a fun alternative! To register, email [email protected].

What are you doing now to get your garden or yard going and growing?

Even though it’s winter, I’m sure many of us are tinkering in the shed, sowing seeds for spring, and dreaming of the days when the blooms are back.

Yard clean up | Now is a great time to clean up your yard if it needs a refresh. Chadds Ford Tree Service will be working on cleaning up our yard soon; we’re still cleaning up from the August 2023 disaster that caused so much damage! 😵‍💫 Slowly but surely, I guess…

Certified Wildlife Habitat | Did you know you can contribute to citizen science and create a Certified Wildlife Habitat in your yard? The National Wildlife Federation sponsors the program, which helps educate and engage everyday citizens about how and why to create more native green spaces in their yards.

We certified our yard a few years ago. It’s easy, something you can plan now to complete in the spring, and is great for biodiversity and the health of our ecosystem. Check out more about how we did it and how you can do it yourself!

Compost, Compost, Compost | I’m a bit of a compost nerd. Many of us in Chadds Ford have enough outdoor space on our properties that it’s easy to practice lazy, passive composting. We compost nearly all of our food scraps without much effort, and then we can use the finished compost to make our soil healthier in the spring.

Yes… we even add food scraps in the winter when the pile freezes. They thaw and break down when everything warms up, returning to life in just a few weeks.

Create your own Homegrown National Park

In our backyard, University of Delaware professor Doug Tallamy founded a national grassroots organization called Homegrown National Park to “regenerate biodiversity because all humans need healthy, productive ecosystems to survive.”

“Our National Parks, no matter how grand in scale, are too small and separated from one another to preserve (native) species to the levels needed. Thus, the concept for Homegrown National Park, a bottom-up call-to-action to restore habitat where we live and work, and to a lesser extent where we farm and graze, extending national parks to our yards and communities.” – Homegrown National Parks

Cozy up with his book, Nature’s Best Hope: A New Approach to Conservation that Starts in Your Yard (there’s also a Young Reader’s Edition) while it’s still cold outside to learn more about native plants and why they’re so important. Because he’s local, the book has a somewhat heavier focus on our local and regional vegetation zones (which is excellent for us!). Then, let’s work together to create mini homegrown national parks in our personal green spaces to help connect wildlife havens and protect essential biodiversity.

Connect in the community!

Here’s the collab part. 🫶🏻 Share your tips and recommendations.

Do you have favorite local nurseries, growers, landscape experts, or friends with green thumbs that can help us prepare for our green spaces to defrost and be ready to dig into the soil?
What are some of your favorite natives to plant that thrive in our area?
Can you share resources for learning more about what’s native to our area and the best types of plants to create more productive ecosystems locally?
What tips can you offer neighbors for their yards and gardens as we await the sunny spring weather?

Share the best local and informational resources to check out now so that when the season changes, we can be good and ready stewards of the beautiful open spaces (public and private) we’re so fortunate to have in Chadds Ford!