It absolutely is time to start planning. If you know your last average frost date, then that is your target day to aim for getting plants in the ground. Aside from that, this is pruning time. Grape vines, fruit trees, rose bushes need to be started before the budding begins.

If you don’t know your last frost date, start here. Once you know that date, you can plan germination dates for seed starts by back calculating when you want to get plants in the ground. Don’t be a robot, watch the weather around that date so that you don’t put plants in the ground only to freeze.

If you remember last year, I needed to build new beds. That is still the case for me and I am running out of time to get that started. Another reason to start planning now is that this is the downtime. Once the grass starts growing, then you’ve got mowing and weeding to add to the list of yardwork (if you do that kind of thing). That means your free time is significantly reduced.

Recently, I bought some LED grow bulbs. The main reason was that I raided that fixture for light bulbs throughout the summer and fall and now I needed new bulbs anyway. However, I do want to try and grow some greens hydroponically this year so I thought that this upgrade was worth the extra money (to try). They are not cheap, so at $20 per bulb, that is the three times what a T8 daylight bulb costs. I will report on the how they did later in the spring.

It is a good time to make sure tools are in order. Do that oil change on the lawnmower, sharpen blades, replace broken tools before the rush happens. Bare root trees are best planted in the winter. Even if you do not want to work outside this time of year, having a plan to execute when the weather gets nicer is very helpful.

Speaking of seasonality, in this era of shortages, it would be best to get the items like seeds, hose mending, irrigation and other supplies while they are available. I have a feeling that once they are gone, they are gone for the season. That is quite normal actually, I can tell, there have been a number of times that I was looking to mend a hose in August only to find that everything has been sold out.

End Your Programming Routine: In our house, we keep talking about the shortage of everything and the adulteration of the food supply with increased industrialization and additives. We keep saying that this is the year that we will do more, more gardening, maybe some chickens as well. I can’t say 100% for sure that we are going to turn the corner this year, but we will miss the boat on this years harvest if we don’t start soon.