Winter
The Slow Weeks When Nothing Is Growing
There are a few weeks each winter when the back yard genuinely has nothing happening in it. Here is what I've learned…
July 7, 2026Right thing, right week.
Planting Through Seasons
Written by Junko Hale
Latest
Bulbs, Plant Sales and a Wallet in the Flower Bed: What I Carry on Autumn Garden Weekends
Autumn has me kneeling in the beds one hour and standing at a garden centre counter the next. The afternoon my wallet ended up in the bulb bed,…
Winter
Storing Bulbs and Tools Without a Shed
I have no shed, no shelter, and no permission to build one. Here is what I actually do with bulbs and tools…
July 1, 2026Autumn
All Autumn ›
Timing the Last Seed Harvest of the Year
Saving seed from my own plants at season's end sounds simple until you're standing over a drying pod…
June 2, 2026
The Fall I Planted Garlic Too Early and Paid For It
Eager to get ahead one September, I put my garlic in weeks before I should have. It came…
May 28, 2026
Closing Down the Back Bed When You Can’t Build Anything
My landlord's lease is clear about no permanent structures in the yard, which meant I had to figure…
May 23, 2026Timing
All Timing ›
Building Judgment Without a Fixed Calendar
Five years in, I've stopped looking for the perfect planting calendar and started trusting a slower kind of…
March 31, 2026
Spacing Out Multiple Sowings of One Crop
Sowing the same crop several times a season sounds simple until you're actually deciding how far apart to…
March 25, 2026
Admitting I Missed the Window
Some years the honest answer is that a planting window has closed and pushing forward anyway just wastes…
March 19, 2026Spring
All Spring ›
Getting Plants Through a Late Freeze With What I Already Own
A cold snap arrived later than it should have this spring, well after I had trusted the season…
March 23, 2026
Five Years of My Own Handwriting Beats Any Planting Chart
I have kept a plain notebook since my first season of gardening, writing down what I actually did…
March 18, 2026
The Crops I Quietly Stopped Starting Indoors
For two years I started nearly everything indoors on my windowsill because it felt like the serious way…
March 14, 2026Winter
All Winter ›
When I Actually Order Seeds Now
My seed ordering used to be pure impulse, driven by whatever caught my eye on a slow evening.…
June 25, 2026
The Real Limits of Indoor Growing in a Rental
I've tried to stretch the growing season indoors for five winters now, and the honest answer is that…
June 19, 2026
Planning Next Year From the Notebook
Every January I sit at the kitchen table with five years of handwritten pages and work out next…
June 14, 2026Summer
All Summer ›
Planning the Garden Around the One Week a Year I Actually Leave
A week away in the middle of summer can undo a season's worth of timing if you don't…
April 29, 2026
How I Know When the Tomatoes Are Actually Done for the Year
Ending tomato season isn't about a date on the calendar, it's about reading the plant. I pulled mine…
April 24, 2026
The Summer I Skipped Shade and Lost Almost the Whole Lettuce Bed
I told myself the plants would be fine without shade cloth for one more week. They weren't. This…
April 18, 2026
About
Junko Hale
Planting Through Seasons is written by Junko Hale. Everything here comes from actual use, written up honestly, including the things that did not work.
More about this site ›Recent
- When I Actually Order Seeds Now
- The Real Limits of Indoor Growing in a Rental
- Planning Next Year From the Notebook
- What Actually Survives a Rowhouse Winter
- Timing the Last Seed Harvest of the Year
- The Fall I Planted Garlic Too Early and Paid For It
- Closing Down the Back Bed When You Can’t Build Anything
- Why I Stopped Trusting the Average First Frost Date