On Being Bitten by the Bug, the Hero Romaine, and Home Permaculture

No. 15 | Winter Gardening in Greenville, SC

Jan 21, 2026

You might be a gardener if you (like me) spend the coldest days of the year…

mentally sketching your garden were you to dig up a clump of (what looks like) nothing and tote it round back to better spot…

Or actually sketching the full potential of the view from your back porch while wrapped up in a sweater blanket with a cup of hot coffee…

Or watering with frozen fingers the lavender cuttings you hope are rooting…

Or traipsing through deep fallen leaves to check hellebores for flowers ready to cut and arrange…

Or dutifully marching a citrus tree around that needs to be arranged for sunshine, when available, and neglectfully protected from icy winter in a dark garage, when warranted…

Or winter sowing seeds you will not remember you cast…

Or gleefully eat kale, yes, kale because you grew it yourself and it’s just about the only thing carrying on without complaining.

Gardeners’ gotta be gardening.

You might say you’ve been “bitten by the bug.”

In conversation recently with a friend, she said that must be her problem: The bug didn’t bite her yet. That’s ok: It may bite at any time ;)

It did in fact bite my son, Josiah, about two weeks ago, when Siena announced the garden spot I gave her is “too small,” and that she wants a bigger one. Josiah pounced on the opportunity and said he’d take it. He spent 4 hours cleaning it up, building a tiny stick fence, decorating it with holly branches and adding a little stool so he could watch his plants grow.

He’s asked me to check on it with him every day after school, and sometimes tells me he’s going outside to “relax in my gahhhh-den.” (Frigid, sitting by the road on the tiny stool, but so proud.)

He’s frustrated the seeds haven’t sprouted yet. I tell him it’s winter, to which he shows no respect. I told him he seems to have gotten bitten by the gardening bug, and that freaked him out. He’s pretty sure he didn’t and that he would remember.

I’ve used up all my basil oil, and garlic, and sage brown butter. Most of my dried oregano and peppermint tea is gone, and we’re down to a few jars of homegrown tomato sauce. I feel it coming on: Real winter. Top it off with a winter storm warning for this weekend.

I’ve grown far more appreciative of January and February in recent years, the slowness of them and the coziness. Winter might be the season when gardeners are really made: Frosty weather can kill motivation and interest, or drive it to new (worrisome?) heights. Like plants are actually gaining strength in dormancy, so too can curiosity probe into deeper ground.

NEWS! I'm working on another zine with Good Printed Things that will come out this spring, I can't wait to show it to you. And SAVE THE DATE: I'm teaming up with Mill Village Farms to host our next Plant Share event at their Block Party Market on May 2nd. More details to come.

Winter might be the season when gardeners are really made.

Winter 2025

What I’m Reading & Listening To

Garden Gab Club Podcast & Substack newsletter
Tessa Pinner and Molly Hendry

I mentioned this podcast last time, but I have a specific episode to share in this newsletter: Garden Gab Club 010: On Winter Gardening and Horticultural Hormones. Around minute 30, Tessa and Molly share their 10 favorite things about gardening in winter, and it is delightful.

The Complete Guide to Home Permaculture
Brandy Hall

I don’t have this book in hand yet, but I was given it for Christmas on pre-order. It released yesterday, January 20. I’ve been following Brandy Hall for a while now. She has a permaculture design business out of Atlanta. This book was written to make permaculture principles practical for home gardeners; I’m really looking forward to it.

This and That

Pearce B Designs

Do you follow Pearce Butcher @pearcebdesigns? She’s a Greenville local and Furman grad who owns a landscape design business. She shares some really helpful posts on Instagram.

Soil3 Big Yellow Bags are on sale

I plan to get another Big Yellow Bag this year, as we have some new beds to fill and some place in our lawn to level. It’s pricey, and I don’t buy it every year, but this is really good stuff. Right now the big bags are $30 off.

Subpod Mini

I bought a mini Subpod before we moved and just now have it installed as a small composting system close to the house for our kitchen scraps. My kids are really excited to have pet worms this spring.

Pruning Time!

Consider this your reminder that it’s a good time to start pruning trees and shrubs. If you need some help, read my Pruning Is Not Instaworthy post.

What I’m Growing

A list of what is actively growing in my kitchen garden right now.

Arugula
Bok choy
Carrots
Garlic
Herbs: Rosemary, thyme, chives, cutting celery, green onion, parsley, peppermint and sage
Kale: Lacinato
Lettuce: Buttercrunch, Winter Rouge, Romaine

I need to take a little sidebar here to talk about Romaine lettuce. I’ve never grown it before this year, and I had no idea it was so cold hardy. I’ve had an experiment going in my kitchen garden with a cold frame on one bed and no cold frame on the other. The Romaine is mostly in the exposed bed, and even multiple nights in a row in the 20s has not damaged it at all. I am planning to move more of it into the cold frame before the storm and low 10s weather we’re about to get. Romaine will be an every year planting for me going forward!