Sow the seeds of change, and adopt these 5 gardening resolutions for the new year

The beginning of January is a time to plant the seeds of change and grow some good habits.

The year 2020 will post-date all our memories as future generations study and learn about how we handled the world pandemic that will shape the future of health care.

We can leave the rehash and results to the medical experts and use this time of year to focus on resolutions and small changes that will improve our own backyards.

Here are my Top 5 gardening resolutions for 2021, inspired by 2020:

1. Grow more kale and Swiss chard

These are the easiest vegetables to grow in Western Washington gardens that give the most nutrition for the longest time with the least amount of work.

2. Grow leafy greens in pots near the kitchen so you can harvest in your slippers

Container-grown hardy greens can provide nutrition all winter long in climates such as ours with mild winters.

3. Add more homegrown leafy greens to your daily diet

One or two leaves of Swiss chard harvested from the bottom of a stalk can be used fresh in salads, layered into a sandwich, chopped into a soup or stew or steamed with other vegetables.

4. Recycle and reuse pots to grow more vegetables

Many of us learned that 5-gallon black plastic nursery pots with their weather resistance (no cracking in a freeze) and multiple, large drainage holes make excellent containers for tomatoes, Swiss chard, kale, eggplant, bush squash, herbs and a cornucopia of other heat-loving edible crops. You don’t need to buy containers to grow food.

5. Growing plants from seed is an art worth learning and sharing

You can order seeds online, visit local garden centers for seeds or even save your own. You will never be limited by a lockdown or what you find for sale locally if you learn to sow and reap.

Growing food from seed has been called the root of modern civilization. Once humans learned to produce their own food in one place, they could stop wandering.

Keep growing in the New Year. It could be the best lesson we learned from 2020.