As a fellow gardener, I’m sure you know how difficult the month of January is. The holidays are over. Resolutions have been made. (Some already broken.) There’s still plenty of winter ahead, and we find ourselves suddenly in a dreary lull. That’s about the time the seed catalogs start rolling in. The urge hits hard […]
Despite writing for our Rural Sprout readers for a few years now and mentioning lilac in no fewer than six articles, it has just dawned on me that I haven’t published one single article dedicated entirely to this shrub (Latin name: Syringa vulgaris). So far, I’ve only referred to it as part of a list. […]
I won’t ask you What are you doing New Year’s Eve? as the song goes. But I am curious if you’re doing anything in the garden the week between Christmas and New Year’s Eve. In our house, we call that “our bonus week,” because we give ourselves permission to do nothing and just be, with […]
Updated: December 16, 2025 – Now with easier instructions and battery-operated flame lights and wreaths! Oh, the weather outside is frightful! Which means it’s the perfect time of year to make ice luminaries. When the temperature drops below freezing, you get the perfect conditions to make and display these beautiful icy decorations. They’re easy to […]
As much as I love the feeling of late fall in the garden, and all the scrumptious flavors that come part and parcel with the season, there’s one thing I absolutely dread when the chill in the air gets impossible to ignore. I supremely hate saying goodbye to my tender annuals. Now I’m not in […]
If “giftable” is a word, then allow me to declare this the most giftable advent calendar of the season. If you like fruit, if you like sweets, but especially if you like creative flavor combos, the Bonne Maman jam calendar is the perfect calendar to delight your senses this advent. A little teaser of the […]
If you do a lot of cooking, you likely go through herbs and spices much quicker than most. And if you’re anything like me, I’ll bet you go through garlic powder like it’s going out of style. Garlic makes everything better. (Except for maybe chocolate.) But why settle for the flavorless store-bought stuff when you […]
It happens to so many of us each year. You buy a cheery poinsettia in the hopes that it will be a lovely (and easy) addition to your holiday décor. But now it’s losing leaves, and you’re wondering if it’s going to make it through the holidays. Luckily, it’s pretty easy to pinpoint what’s gone […]
These charmingly rustic pinecone flower Christmas ornaments are the perfect craft for a snowy winter day. (Don’t worry, you can still make them if you don’t have any snow.) These sweet ornaments come together surprisingly quickly, and beyond a pair of hand pruners and a few basic craft supplies, you don’t need much to make […]
There are no raspberries in our new garden! I repeat, there are no raspberries in our new garden! As someone who has spent the past five years consuming raspberries by the bowlful, from mid-summer to late fall, I felt that this lack of raspberries would have to be one of the first things to rectify […]