New Year Organic Garden Resolutions

I posted My New Year Organic garden resolutions on New Year’s Eve on Facebook. But I wanted to expand on them and show you exactly what is planned for Snapshot and Snippets Garden this year.

So have you made any gardening resolutions? Do you want to do more or even start to grow your own vegetables. This is a great time to get started while things are quiet in the garden. Why not check out my list below and see if any of them appeal to you. Trust me they are all good for the garden and will be easy to keep.

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New Year Organic Garden Resolution

Compost More

We now have two compost piles in the Snapshot and Snippets garden and I want to get better at producing my own rich compost. I also want to try to build a wormery this year.

Building and maintaining a compost pile is the surest, easiest way to become a better gardener. Not only will you be producing the best possible food for your garden, but by watching leaves, eggshells, orange rinds, and grass clippings become transformed into a rich organic compost filled with earthworms and other soil creatures, you’ll be learning what healthy soil is all about.

Compost improves soil structure. Most gardeners don’t start with great soil. Whether your’s is hard and compacted, sandy, stony, heavy, or wet, adding compost will improve its texture, water-holding capacity, and fertility. Your soil will gradually become fluffy and brown—the ideal home for healthy plants.

You can learn more about composting here and get a free printable list of compostable items

Nurture more plants from seed

Few things in life are as rewarding as planting a seed and watching the miracle of new life unfolding. Okay maybe having a baby or saving a life! There are lots of practical reasons to start plants from seed — saving money, having more varieties to choose from but also it is mentally rewarding.

You can learn all about how to make your own seed pots here

Make every drop of water count

The government keeps threating water charges and some places are under stress for clean water. Environmentally it is is a great thing to do and lord know we get a lot of rain in Ireland. So I resolve to conserve our precious water supply while keeping plants happy and healthy. Collect rainwater in a barrel, use soaker hoses to minimize runoff, or add a timer to your irrigation system so you don’t forget to turn it off which I was guilty of last year.

This year I might just go with nature and add a Rain Garden to the garden you can read all about making one here. Our garden is unfortunately very damp, especially in winter.

Encourage more wildlife

Create an inviting habitat for garden visitors by providing food, water and shelter to birds, butterflies and pollinators. Consider transforming some of your lawn into gardens filled with flowers and fruit-bearing shrubs. We are planning on having a few bug hotels like this one for bugs and bees. You could also install a pond to attract frog and toads which love eating slugs.

Grow Something New

Every year I try a new vegetable in my garden and this year I plan on trying Goji Berries

The goji berry bush is a perennial plant and as such will continue to produce fruits each year. Highly productive, delicious and foolproof to grow, before planting one of these it is actually even worth double checking that it hasn’t already planted itself in that neglected corner completely unbeknownst to you as it can be like a weed. Free from the risk of pests or disease, keep on top of watering and the Goji Berry is happy to get on with the job – producing berries by the punnet load year-after-year. Shelter your plant from the worst of the winter in its first year either by bringing pots into a greenhouse or by covering with fleece outdoors. Sow: January-March. Harvest: July-October of the second year.

Enjoy More Home-grown Food

We have made lots of dishes in 2017 thanks to my little garden like this tasty Fabulous Gluten free Kale and Mushroom Pasta or my Gherkins and Dill Pickles recipe and my Homemade Strawberry Ice-cream and Strawberry Fritters. We plan on doing the more of the same in 2018. And want to show you it is easy to grow and eat your own food.

So what are your resolutions this year? Do you plan on growing anything? If you enjoyed this post remember to share. And sign up today for Snapshot and Snippets to receive your Free Gardening Printables