It was another quiet week over at Rural Sprout. My house was especially subdued as I was under the weather with a sinus infection. Can you believe it? Just a boring old sinus infection. Are those even allowed anymore?

I’ve taken half a dozen at-home covid tests this week, expecting two lines to pop up at any moment. But alas, it was just a garden-variety bout of bacteria doing their best to make me miserable. 

 

 

I’m finally on the mend, though; I’ve eaten my own body weight in soup and used up every box of tissues in the house. Good thing my sweetie makes house calls. He showed up with more tissues, a bag of grapefruit and a lecture about resting instead of watching TV all evening.

 

 

I’m starting to get excited about this coming growing season even though it’s the heart of winter, and I expect more winter to come. I’m looking at all of the great pieces our writers have whipped up for you that we’ll be rolling out over the next few weeks.

 

I’m pouring over seed catalogs discussing what to grow this year. My sweetie set up the seed warming mats and seed trays over at his place, and we’ll be sowing some seeds indoors this week. 

 

Even though spring is still a long way off, if you want your gardening fix, I think I can help.

 

My sweetheart and I discussed some of the pests we dealt with this past summer and what we wanted to do differently this coming season. (The cabbage loopers completely defoliated our Brussels sprouts and the green cabbages.)
 

 

No, not that kind of RoundUp. We don’t use the “M” word at our house. 

 

Since I had garden pests on the brain, I thought I would share a few links to some of our articles dealing with common garden pests. As the saying goes, the best defense is a good offense, so why not read up on these pesky critters now. 

 

You’ll know what to look for when they show up in your garden, and you’ll have a plan of attack ready to go. When it comes to pests, prevention truly is the best policy. Click on any of the links below to learn more.