Gardening in January?

I enjoy gardening. This past year was a bust, though. I’m not sure if it was me or the garden; I think I will take the blame. But here it is, January, and I want to garden. Man of you are knee-deep in snow, and while I don’t have snow, I know it is predicted to be in the 20s here next week, so here is how I approach gardening in January.

Right off my living room I have what we call the green room. You may think this is because it is full of plants. Nope, it is not. The previous owner painted it neon green and I haven’t gotten around to painting that room yet. It has three huge windows.

The funny thing about this room is, the previous tenants used it as a sunroom. They had rattan furniture in there. It was a nice set up. It even had a ceiling fan. After moving in we found out the ceiling fan was just for show. It was just a light? did I mention that it has 3 huge windows? We live in Texas and in the summer that room is just unusable. The windows do not open so you don’t even get a breeze through there.

So what did we do?

How the Green Room is set up

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First, I blocked off two windows with portable blackout shades, facing south and east. This tremendously reduced the room’s heat and gave us privacy. However, anyone on the street could look straight into this room, which driving on the was a bit unnerving.

I then installed shelves. These are just metal shelves. I can easily attach zip ties to them. I zip tie the lights to the shelves!

Then I added lights. I know you are saying, Judi, you just blocked 2 windows?  These are grow lights for tender young plants. Not the blazing sun that bakes everything in that room They can be controlled. You can find the lights I purchased HERE. I like these because they can be daisy chained and I can use as many or as few as I want.

When you are gardening in January you really need to be able to control the environment. I also installed fans! these are just little fans that clip to the sides of the metal shelves. Plants need a bit of a breeze to be healthy.

And then to top it all off I installed Smart Plugs. These work with my Alexa and turn the lights and the fans on and off.  Which is great for those mornings I forget to go in and turn on the lights.

This whole setup may seem complicated but it really isn’t.  It allows me to put plants on my shelves and to grow microgreens and smaller crops like baby greens.

So what am I growing while Gardening in January?

This New Year, one of my resolutions was to eat healthier and learn more about my food. I think as a society we have put a distance from our food and no idea where it comes from. Cooking from scratch is on my agenda, but so is growing what food I can.

Right now I am growing broccoli microgreens.

Microgreens are little powerhouses of nutrients! According to the Cleveland Clinic, microgreens have 4 to 40 times the amount of nutrients than the mature plant. Yes, please! Cleveland Clinic Article

They are great on salads, in sandwhiches and to be honest I have been known to just snack on them! And to be honest when purchasing microgreens in the grocery store the prices? WOW! They are easy to grow, and quick.

Here is a picture of my week-old microgreens ready to harvest!

Next I will be planting greens! And setting up a hydroponics system! As I plant more I will post more about the process so follow along if you are interested!