For people who want to grow more food with less work. 🌱 This is my weekly newsletter loved by 38,000+ subscribers—here's what one of them had to say: "These are not the regular run-of-the-mill garden-based emails. You actually touch on more unusual tidbits that encourage me to keep growing and learning."
how I reuse my cut Christmas tree 🎄 in the garden
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Are you the type of person who takes down your Christmas tree right away, or let it linger till after the New Year? 🙋🏻♀️ If you followed some of my tips on how to make your Christmas tree last longer, chances are it's still green. We took a chance this year and brought home a hemlock, which according to my research, is one of the shortest-lasting Christmas trees but this one from the forest surprised us. It's dropping more needles but isn't entirely dry yet! We'll likely take it down this coming week. Not a bad run considering we got it the weekend after Thanksgiving! After that, we'll box up all the ornaments, drag the tree out to the yard, limb it and chop it into pieces so it can be used as mulch. Mulch is my secret weapon in winter. It's important all year, but especially in cold weather as it protects my plants' roots, prevents frost heaving, and warms up the soil faster in spring. I use all kinds of organic mulch in my garden (including straw, wood chips, pine needles, and sheep's wool) but my favorite free source of mulch this time of year comes from all my old Christmas decor: conifer trees, wreaths, and garlands. Many people discard their old evergreens in their yard debris cans or drop off dead trees at local recycling centers, but I like to cut mine up and spread the boughs across my garden to mulch perennial (or overwintering) beds like garlic, asparagus, flower bulbs, and fruit trees and shrubs. Old Christmas trees (and wreaths and garlands) make for very sturdy mulch, as they break down slowly and don't blow away in winter storms. They retain heat and moisture very well. And did I mention free? But mulch isn't the only thing your dried-up conifer is good for.
(You'll be so inspired, you might even feel compelled to ask your neighbors for their old trees too—mine are always asking where to get rid of theirs in our neighborhood Facebook group.) If you bought a living Christmas tree this year, then you'll need to start acclimating it to the outdoors (gently!) before it goes in the ground in the next couple months, depending on your climate. Here's the best way to care for a potted Christmas tree so you can plant it in your yard. As I'm writing this, we're finally getting a bit of real winter weather in Central Oregon. It snowed in town the day after Christmas (uhhh a day late!) but our local ski resort still has a pretty meager snowpack. This has been the case for nearly all the ski resorts in the west; we've had an unusually dry and mild December. But we're still doing our snow dances and hoping to take the kids up to the mountains for some snow play this coming week. I just went through my snowboard bag to reorganize a few things, replenish hand warmer packets, recharge my Bluetooth helmet speakers (I use these ones, which I love) and get psyched up for the season. Just never know what the weather will do! Maybe winter is simply arriving very late? This year, our older daughter Gemma (9) will ride some new lifts and experience new terrain, and our younger daughter Ember (6) will continue practicing turns on her snowboard. She's been getting after it since she was a toddler, and it's been quite the journey teaching both kids on our own. If you're hoping to get a little one out on a snowboard as well, here's a guide I wrote on exactly how we did it! (Twice!) And honestly, there's a lot of great info in there for anyone—at any age—who's beginning to learn. I wish I'd gotten those same progression tips when I first learned to snowboard at the age of 26 (which was a very long time ago now 😬 and I'm still learning new tricks every winter). Here's to a joyous New Year of trying new things, P.S. Give your old Christmas tree new life. Here are 10 creative ideas for repurposing your tree (or wreath or garland) around your home and garden. P.P.S. If you're already thinking about spring seed starting, Peaceful Valley is offering 20% off all seeds and seed supplies from now through January 2! Enter code SPROUT20 at checkout. Peaceful Valley carries their own line of seeds (which I've had really great experiences with this year) as well as other companies' seeds, such as High Mowing Organic Seeds, Hudson Valley Seed, San Diego Seed Company, and Renee's Gardens. |
Garden Betty
For people who want to grow more food with less work. 🌱 This is my weekly newsletter loved by 38,000+ subscribers—here's what one of them had to say: "These are not the regular run-of-the-mill garden-based emails. You actually touch on more unusual tidbits that encourage me to keep growing and learning."