Happy New Year, fellow gardener! Like you, we've been making plans, setting goals and daring to dream about what this fresh year might hold. We wanted to share some of what we hope to accomplish together this year, and open it up to any ideas that our readers (that's you!) might have to help us serve you better.201

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Articles, Videos and Other Good Stuff
We've been hard at work through the fall to bring you 2 to 3 new articles written in house each week, and we plan to minimally sustain that pace. But we want to hear from you!

• If you're a gardener...
• If you're an expert at growing one or two things really well...
• If you have a beautifully landscaped yard that you put together yourself...

If you're a local blogger who's interested in doing a guest piece, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ! We'd be happy to link to your blog.

It's no coincidence, of couse, that Christmas is just around the corner. But Christmas isn't the only holiday that a good gardener should get gifts. So we compiled a list of goodies any gardener would be happy to add to his or her arsenal. And if you have additions, add them at the end! Fair warning, some (most) of these items will likely elicit an, "Oh...clippers...thank you," sort of reaction. Don't worry about that. Garden gifts aren't the most fun to open in the middle of winter, but they give most of the year. With that, the list...

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1. Aforementioned clippers. AKA pruning shears. Any gardener needs a sturdy, sharp pair of clippers. They should be comfortable to use, made of a rust-proof material, and should lock. Locking makes them easier to tote around in a back pocket.

2. Caddy. You can get aprons for 5-gallon buckets, which are sort of like toolbelts. They have lots of pockets for garden tools, provide an easy way to transport stuff, and help keep the garden goods organized.

If you read last week's article about why terrarium gardening is a hobby you should take up, you're probably back for some tips on how to do it, what to use and what to plant. So let's get to it! As we said last week, a terrarium is essentially a miniature greenhouse that you keep inside (that's important!). There are main types of terrariums: open and closed. We'll be talking only about closed terrariums right now.

Image: Scribbit

Getting Started
Since the idea of a terrarium is to create a cozy, moist greenhouse environment, almost any container that traps moisture will work. An old pickle jar with a lid can be a terrarium, it just won't be very pretty. If you want your terrarium to be lovely to look at, try using one of these items as your "case."

We've already established that December is kind of a sucky time to slog around in the dirt (mud) in the yard in Southern Oregon. When it's not raining, it's damp and gray, and who wants numb fingertips and wet boots when there's hot chocolate and Christmas cookies to be had, trees to be decorated, and fires to be sat in front of? Nobody, that's who.

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But for many of us, the love of growing stuff doesn't go dormant when the plants outside do. So what can you do? Bring it inside, in a terrarium. What is a terrarium, you ask? Basically a miniature greenhouse. They're kind of trendy these days, gaining mention in the December issue of Better Homes and Gardens and the New York Times, to name a couple spots.