How to Expand (Garden) Delight in the Depths of a Wisconsin Winter
Written on my calendar today is “Blog: Garden”.
I’ll admit I’ve been struggling with writing this post.
Winter is not my favorite time in the garden.
The winter garden is subtly beautiful (I’ve shared about that before) and as a garden-inspired painter, I’m finding inspiration there (as I did last year), even while experimenting with something new.
But…
We’ve had so many dark, grey days, snow and frost-covered trees blending into the clouds heavy overhead.
I know many of you who visit my little corner of the internet are gardeners (some of you even shared your gardens here last year!).
As gardeners, we can’t help but be connected with the cycles of the seasons.
And you know what?
It’s OK that I’m feeling less than excited by the cold and the wind and the snow and dreary day after dreary day.
Letting go of the pressure to love winter allows me to discover its delights.
While I was trying to figure out what I wanted to write about today, I went back to winter garden posts I’d written in the past…
About gratitude.
About ordering seeds.
About planning my garden.
And then I stumbled upon this post about surviving winter.
In that post I share 11 ways I bring more joy and warmth to the days I’m feeling less than excited about the season:
read about gardens
drink tea
crochet
dress in layers
get outside
plan for the coming gardening season
move my body
grow something edible now
make and eat soup
escape into fiction
snuggle
I’ve been doing many of these things this year, too.
They’re part of the cycle of seasons for me as a gardener who lives where winters are long and cold. From the comments on that post, I know I’m not alone in this.
Reading that post reminded me of things I’d like to do again (starting some sprouts and picking up my crochet). And it made me think about what else I’ve been doing to add more joy and warmth to my days, the ways in which I’m expanding delight (thank you, words of the year).
So for today, I thought I’d share a 10 more things I’m doing to expand my delight these days:
Giving myself a snow day (I made that pile of blankets and pillows in the photo above on my snow day and it was quickly taken over by Clara, Quin and Fiona).
Cooking with what I’ve preserved from my garden. (I’ve especially enjoyed using the peaches I froze last summer to top homemade waffles. So cozy and hopeful, too).
(Which led me to) looking back at photos of my garden. I’d highly recommend looking back at photos of yours, too.
Delighting in COLOR. I miss color in the winter. So on the dreariest, most monochrome days I’ve been wearing bright colors, choosing the brightest of my Fiestaware for every meal and grabbing colorful art supplies for creative play.
Feeding the birds (and watching them from my windows).
Learning something new — I know I’ll never run out of new things to learn and am grateful for the knowledge shared generously on the internet and for the miracle of the public library!
Loving the plants in my indoor garden.
Watching this tour of Botanical Interests seed company (loved getting to see in the art department, too).
Enjoying citrus (lemon juice on dutch babies this morning, lots and lots of clementines).
