The Dream

"Anyone who thinks gardening begins in the spring and ends in the fall is missing the best part of the whole year; for gardening begins in January with the dream." Josephine Nuese

I saw this lovely quote recently, and it couldn't have come at a better time. You see, our mild winter is finally over, and real winter has begun. It's been snowing for hours, and after the snow, we'll have bitter cold. January in Ohio can be a cold, cruel place, and gardening is not generally a part of it. But I almost forgot about the dream! You see, January is time to peruse the seed catalogs.

Seed catalogs allow you to plan and scheme for spring when there's no other gardening to do. I've heard other gardeners call these catalogs "garden porn". But maybe it would be better to call them eye candy. Either way, this is where the dream starts.

When I look out the window, all I see is white. But if I dream, I can remember the flowers that grew there not long ago.

And if I dream even harder, I can imagine the flowers that will grow there next time. That's the beauty of dreaming, anything is possible.

As we plan ahead for the upcoming garden season, gardeners will often say "This year will be the best garden ever!" We're an optimistic bunch. I guess we're just a bunch of dreamers.

Personally, I do think that this will be a banner garden year for me. My shiny new knee means that I'll be able to garden more efficiently. I'm already envisioning being able to better care for my flowers, and to once again be able to process the bounty from our expanded vegetable garden. My husband has already revamped our vegetable garden, with new raised beds that are more than double the space we had before. I can taste it all now.

So next time you think that gardeners aren't busy in January, don't forget about the dream. That's where it all starts.