Things are starting to get serious here in Mid-Coast Maine. Old Man Winter blew into town over the weekend and brought us a nice dusting of snow, and it seems to be sticking around.
I can’t think of a better way to start the month of December than with a little snow on the ground and a roaring fire in the woodstove keeping us warm inside. I feel like I am drinking my weight in tea and hot chocolate every day now and I couldn’t be happier.
Our little white barn with branches of winterberries hung on the doors.
I wonder how long it will take the birds to find them and pick them clean.
The kitchen garden… finally tucked in and ready the long 5 month slumber before planting season begins again in early May.
Inside we have the amaryllis bulbs beginning to sprout so there is still a little bit of gardening happening around here.
With a little luck they should be blooming around Christmas or New Years.
Next up on my indoor gardening chore list is to start some pepper seeds {and maybe some more basil too}. I got a craving for some habanero pepper jelly the other day and thought it might be fun to try and grow them indoors this winter. Maybe by late February or Early March I’ll have enough to make a batch of jam.
Now… if I could only grow pineapple. 🙂 That would be something!
The pace is starting to slow down around here, and I couldn’t be happier.
How about YOU? Are you done with all your outdoor gardening for the year? Are you looking forward to some down time? Will you be growing anything indoors this winter? Do tell.
Here’s to a wonderful Wednesday,
~Mavis
Holley says
OH the barn with the winterberry!!!! It looks so beautiful with the snow on the ground!!! Enjoy your favorite time of year Mavis!
Mel says
You actually can grow pineapple!
https://www.fast-growing-trees.com/products/pineapple-plant?variant=32068276256830&gclid=Cj0KCQiA15yNBhDTARIsAGnwe0XI69YzjTvm1zkHH6efzbM3hZFh6qsH37mXZA7qy3MVZc3mnOYn5SgaAuypEALw_wcB
The barn is beautiful. We need to get decorating but have been very slow moving lately.
Shana Harbeintner says
We will be growing one cherry tomato plant, lettuce, micro greens and green onions indoors as we do every year. We bring a cherry in and pot it for the Winter and it produces all through our Minnesnowda Winter
Enjoy your fire and warm beverages!
Kristen says
Shana!
What type of conditions do you have for your cherry inside? Near window, grow lights? What is production like?
My mind is blown!
Margo says
Still in planting and harvesting mode in San Diego. Planning to plant some more giant Fordhook chard this week. Growing lots of greens, radishes, herbs, and potatoes right now. This is supposed to be our rainy season and I love “settling in” a bit, but we have had only one storm in October and nothing else. In the mean time, I’ll keep gardening and praying for some rain!
Rebecca in MD says
All my gardens are put to bed for the season. I will be gathering some arborvitae, holly, southern magnolia, and pine for decorating throughout the house. Nothing better than homemade arrangements from my own garden.
Jeanine says
Yes….wintertime is a time to relax a bit. But not so much for us. We are trying to clean up the 2 trees that fell right smack in the middle of the garden and taking out my garden shed (with most of the tools in it). But, we are making headway with the cleanup! Lots more firewood for sure. At least a cord and a half!
How is your firewood holding out! If you lived near me, I’d give you some. I have enough for 3 years!
Your white barn looks so sweet, Looks like a Christmas Card. Good luck with the dock.
suzanne says
This will be my first winter with a greenhouse so I’ve got a bit of a learning curve. I’m used to winter sowing so maybe I’ll try both for comparisons sake.
Lana says
We have two hydroponic gardens going in our kitchen. One has basil, peppermint, parsley and dill and the other has lettuce and Red Hat dwarf cherry tomatoes. We harvest a bit of lettuce daily and herbs as we need them and we have been drying peppermint for tea.. The tomatoes are just seedings right now and we can’t hardly wait to see what they do. This is our first year doing hydroponics and we love the ease and convenience of it. I am also overwintering cuttings of our outside cherry tomatoes from the summer. They are well rooted now so it is time to get them in a pot and see if we can carry them over to spring.
Sara says
Any plans for a greenhouse or maybe a solarium?
Martine says
I grew a pineapple in my conservatory here in Scotland! It took two years though and it’s a big prickly plant which thrives on neglect! Not total neglect obviously but I grew it from the top section of an organic pineapple so I suggest you give it a try! x
Annette says
Love that first pic 🙂
Annette says
Sorry I meant the 2nd pic . . . Of the barn . . . Not HH. Heh, heh
Kim says
Love that barn, so simple, so lovely.
Enjoy a true winter, lots of fires and hot beverages.
We haven’t turned on our heat yet. It’s in the 70’s today in TX. We did have one fire last week. But, you can see why I need to read your blog……to get my pretend winter.
Enjoy yourself!!!!
JennA says
Pineapple basil and pineapple mint have a lovely pineapple scent
Lori says
Have you tried growing the top of a pineapple? You can grow them. I have one that’s about 2 feet tall. No pineapples yet. But my aunt who I started a pineapple plant for a couple of years ago has a pineapple that has taken shape. It’s about 4” long and seems to get bigger every day. So you can grow pineapples!
Pam Favorite says
Just out of curiosity, you like gardening and you seem to have the space have you ever thought of an orchard?
Wendy C says
Love the barn!
Jeanie says
I am just leaving this here because I don’t know if you realize of there is a way to remediate it but your blog is just full of pop up ads that make reading it very hard. Instead of closing out they all open up if you even scroll near them. Is anyone else having this issue?
Margo says
I am not, maybe some malware on your computer?
Kat says
You can totally grow pineapple!!
I live in Switzerland (a zone comparable to USA 7A, so not QUITE as chilly as you, but for this So Cal transplant, it feels that same!). I grew a new pineapple plant from a top I lobbed off of a store-bought fruit; keep her inside in winter and let her summer outdoors on the sunny balcony. She is beautiful and visually interesting among both the houseplants and the summer stunners outside.
Highly recommend 😉
Louise G Wesson says
Dear Mavis,
So VERY glad to find you this morning! You are exactly what I was searching for: experience of gardening in coastal 6a. I have been vegetable gardening now for 50 years; 34 years at current (19422) home with a vegetable garden 55’ x 55’, fruit trees and blueberries outside of that square. More trees and small fruits are going in this spring—their locations are already prepared with corrugated cardboard under a thick layer of woodchips.
I also have begun gardening in 04551 (Oar Island)–my reason for wanting advice. A 2018 July storm blew down enough trees to make a glade–‘looks like a garden to me…’, and loving husband agreed. Many hours spent with chain saws (his and hers) have worked to make it quite a clearing. I now have a space 29’ x 71’, oriented west to east, running right up to the shore on the east. Freedom (I retired from teaching Jan. 26, 2021) allowed us this past year to go up one week per month, April to October. In our last three visits, I worked on preparing soil, following guidance from numerous tests done by UMaine, for fruit trees, asparagus, raspberries, blueberries, and vegetables. The blueberries we had set out in 2019—some from Moose Crossing [I was there in October the day they closed for the season!], some from the Thomaston Walmart. In August I set out strawberry runners from my Pennsylvania home garden, and again in October, as the September visit had proved their amazing vigor. I also harvested a jet-sled full of bladderwrack, spread it out on land to let salt wash off, although I have heard since that that step is not needed.
Regarding working the island soil—which I believe to be virgin–, in September I broke two manure forks by using them as broad forks, then bought the real thing (the 5 tine hardpan) from Johnny’s. That tool is marvelous! I use it in both states—not only does it loosen soil, it digs up rocks, digs up really large pokeweed root, resistant blackberry root, and —-it spares my back. One of the best-spent $200 ever!
We rent out our island cottage and cabin through the warm season, and those visitors are now contributing generously to my compost heap. My hope is to be able fairly shortly to say to these guests, “Well, you are going to be on Oar Island when the strawberries/blueberries/lettuce….are ready, so help yourself.”
Here in southeastern Pennsylvania, I am doing twelve-month gardening. Currently I have 4 beds, 5’ x 20’, under low-tunnels, with a double layer of spun-bonded polypropylene, about to receive their clear plastic when temps appear to dip into teens (hasn’t happened yet, Dec. 28). For maximum sunlight I uncover the beds when temps are above freezing. Lettuces, cabbages, broccoli, cauliflower, turnips are under hoops; spinach is out in the open. I picked a generous basket of spinach last evening.
Again—my thanks to you for providing a source for coastal 6a gardening! Come visit me this coming season!
Louise