SEARCH
MENU
  • About
  • Subscribe
  • Shop
Creative & Frugal Home & Garden Ideas

Empress of Dirt

  • Grow
  • Make
  • Ideas

New here?

Dig in!

Start here

7 Winter-Busting Indoor Garden Projects to Lift Your Mood

Published on January 15, 2022 ♛ By Melissa J. Will

This post contains affiliate links.
Read full disclosure statement here.

Share on FacebookShare on PinterestShare on Email

Even if you don’t mind winter, as gardeners we can’t help but think ahead to those beautiful spring days when we can start getting our hands in the dirt again. I gathered these indoor projects to stimulate those garden-loving endorphins and carry us through.

This is also a good time to prepare Christmas and Thanksgiving Cactuses and Poinsettias for reblooming.

Red Amaryllis bulbs in bloom.
Red Amaryllis bulbs in bloom

Indoor Garden Projects to Defy Winter

Indoor flowering bulbs by window.
Indoor flowering bulbs by window

Whether your winter is just a few months long or takes up most of the year, at some point we all say enough is enough. I need my garden fix!

And that’s where the power of indoor gardening can help.

I don’t know what it is about getting our hands in soil, sowing seeds, and caring for and coaxing them on, but it works. You can’t help but feel better when you’re growing stuff.

Have a look at the ideas, try what appeals to you, and before we know it, it will be spring planting time.

1Grow a Salad in Your Living Room

Salad greens growing in small plastic pots indoors.
Salad greens growing in small plastic pots indoors

Yes, you can grow all sorts of leafy salad greens in your home. All it takes is a simple fluorescent workshop light or LED grow lights (Amazon). A sunny window can also work in a pinch.

Leafy greens grow quickly and—good news—many are cut-and-come-again, meaning you can harvest what you need and the plants will continue producing more leaves.

Resources

  • How to Grow Salads Indoors
  • How to Grow Microgreens

2Give Peas a Chance

Edible pea plants growing in small pots indoors.
Edible green peas growing indoors

This is quirky and fun. Plus, you get flowers and edible peas!

Give peas a chance t-shirt

If you sow pea seeds indoors, they will grow much like they do outdoors.

I provide trellis for mine and, no disrespect to tropical houseplants, but all that greenery makes it so cheerful inside.

And how crazy is it to walk just a few steps to harvest peas for dinner?

Resources

  • How to Grow Peas Indoors
  • Grow Vegetables Indoors (Easy Beginner’s Guide)
  • Give Peas a Chance T-Shirt

3Fall in Love With Seed Sowing

Seeds stored in mason jar and in plastic photo cases.
Seeds ready for indoor sowing

Now is the time to take stock.

Gather all your seeds and update your inventory list.

Note the age of your seeds and mark them so the older ones get used first.

Figure out what you want to grow this year, map it out on paper, and get your seed orders placed.

There is a printable digital garden planner in my shop if you like some structure.

For some of us, just reading seed catalogs is a mini-vacation.

Resources

  • Seed Viability Chart: How Long Seeds Last in Storage
  • How to Categorize Seeds
  • Two Smart Seed Storage Systems
  • A Weekly Sowing Plan for Growing Vegetables (Starting Indoors in Late Winter)
  • How to Make Seed Tapes

4Get a Jump Start on Spring

Seedlings in pots under LED grow lights indoors.
Simple LED grow lights

Become an indoor seed sower.

There are so many advantages to starting seeds indoors.

Not only do we get a jump start on the outdoor growing season, allowing us to inexpensively grow plants that need more time to mature than outdoor conditions allow, but we also get more growing options and lots of them.

No longer restricted by the offerings at local plant nurseries, we can grow whatever our hearts desire.

Resources

  • Seed Starting for Beginners: Sow Inside Grow Outside
  • What I Use to Start Seeds Indoors (Low-Cost Supplies)

LED Grow Lights

Recommended LED Lights

Seedlings | Barrina Super Bright White LED Lights | Amazon

These lights work nicely for indoor seed starting and growing young plants until it’s time for outdoor transplanting.

Indoor Flowering & Fruiting | Barrina Full-Spectrum LED Lights | Amazon

If you need lights for long-term growing including plants that can flower and fruit indoors, choose full-spectrum bulbs. You can also use these for seed starting.

Mail Order Seeds

  • SeedsNow | Botanical Interests United States
  • West Coast Seeds Canada

5Follow Your Curiosity

A mango fruit and mango house plant in small plastic pot.
Grow a mango plant from a pit

Have you ever tried growing plants from food scraps?

There are lots of viable seeds and stems in our kitchen compost bin.

Popular options include sprouting avocado pits, mango seeds, ginger root, and citrus seeds including lemons, grapefruit, and oranges.

Resources

  • 39 Vegetables, Fruits, and Herbs to Regrow From Scraps
  • How to Grow Avocado From Seed
  • How to Grow Mango From Seed

Kitchen Propagation Handbook cover

Related: 7 Fruits & Veggies to Regrow: Kitchen Propagation Handbook


6Explore the World of Winter Sowing

Sowing seeds in a milk jug in winter.
Winter sowing is an easy way to germinate many seeds

There are two easy ways to “winter sow” seeds. You can do all the preparations indoors.

The “milk jug” method uses clear, closed containers. They don’t have to be milk jugs.

My favorite way is simply to sow seeds in open pots.

Either way, after sowing you put everything outdoors and let the cold weather work its magic.

Resources

  • How to Winter Sow in Milk Jugs
  • How to Sow Hardy Seeds Outdoors in Pots (Easy Winter Method)

7Bloom Where You’re Planted

Amaryllis bulbs sprouting and flowering indoors.
Force bulbs indoors for a pop of color

I love having something in bloom in the house when it’s snowing outside.

You can force (make bloom) a number of different bulbs either in potting mix or water.

Options include amaryllis (Hippeastrum), crocus, hyacinth, tulip, snowdrops, and dwarf iris.

Several of them flower quickly: 2 to 3 weeks after planting.

Resources

  • How to Force Bulbs Indoors
  • Make Your African Violets Bloom Again

Ebook

Holiday Cactus Handbook book cover.

Christmas, Thanksgiving, & Easter
Holiday Cactus Handbook

Year-round Care Tips

by Melissa J. Will

About This Ebook | Visit Ebook Shop

This ebook is a digital file (PDF format) you save to your device. It is not a physical product.

Buy Now
$7 US

PayPal, Credit Card, Apple Pay

That should keep you busy. Dive in and enjoy it. You might enjoy it so much you forget it’s winter.

~Melissa the Empress of Dirt ♛

Indoor flowering bulbs by window.
Share on FacebookShare on PinterestShare on Email

Free Newsletters

Signup for creative & frugal home and garden ideas!

This site is spam-free and you can unsubscribe anytime.

Thank you!

You have successfully joined our subscriber list.

Melissa J. Will - Empress of DirtWelcome!
I’m Melissa J. Will a.k.a. the Empress of Dirt (Ontario, Canada).
Join me as I share creative + frugal home & garden ideas with a dash of humor.
More: Contact/About
New here? Dig in!  |  Our Podcast

Handy Resources

  • Soil Calculator
  • Garden Name Generator
  • Printable Garden Planner
  • Favorite Garden Quotes
  • Botanical Plant Names 101
DISCLOSURE STATEMENT

Some articles on this site contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Affiliate and Ad Disclosure | Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2025 · Empress of Dirt Creative + Frugal Home & Garden Ideas