6 Ways to Keep Gardening on a Rainy Day

We've been having off and on showers here today, making the garden off-limits for any of the weeding and planting I'd like to be doing. Spring is such a busy time for gardeners, it's hard to let any day slip by without accomplishing something garden-related. So I came up with a list of a few useful tasks that can be done indoors that will save you lots of time and possibly money when you get back out in the garden. See how many of these you can accomplish during the coming April showers:

1. Start some seeds. Load up a plastic box or old dishpan with fresh potting soil, lay down some newspaper on your kitchen table and get sowing. This works particularly well when you're sowing seeds in small batches, which for most home gardeners is the best way to do it.
2. Wash your garden gloves. Yuck! Those things are disgusting! Not only do they look awful, but they're almost certainly crawling with bacteria and fungi from dirt and sweat that can cause skin rashes. For pity's sake, take the opportunity of this rainy day to toss them in the washer and hang them up to dry. If they're cotton gloves, you can add bleach to help disinfect them; if they have synthetic materials, try adding a little vinegar to the rinse water.
3. Research a garden problem. Have you spotted a pest or disease problem you can't identify? Or do you have a problem spot in your garden that's maybe so shady or has such poor drainage that you can't get anything to grow there? A rainy day is the perfect time to take to the Internet or your stack of gardening magazines and try to track down a solution. The answer is out there--you just have to dig it out.
4. Clean and sharpen your tools. Again, spread some newspapers on your kitchen table and haul in your pruners, loppers, hedge clippers, trowels, shovels and spades (wipe them off with a dry rag first). Start by washing them with a wet, soapy rag or a Lysol cleaning cloth and drying them. Then take a sharpening stone and sharpen those cutting edges. Finally, wipe the metal parts using a cloth and some mineral oil.
5. Write out some plant labels. How many of us actually take the time when we're planting to write out plant labels? I certainly don't. What I usually do is take whatever label came with the plant and throw it in a box in the laundry room, with the full intention of writing out my own label later. Now is the time! Stock up on one style of plant labels (check your local garden center or an online store like Gardener's Supply) and grab a permanent, waterproof marker and get busy. With the labels all written out, you can run around your garden after the rain stops and stick your neatly printed labels where they belong.
6. Shop for more plants. A little rain should never stop a gardener from buying plants. If you don't feel like trudging around a drippy nursery, go online and shop in the comfort of your very dry desk chair. Try an online nursery you haven't ordered from before or for some varieties you're not likely to find anywhere else, check out one of my favorite mail-order nurseries, Annie's Annuals.