January’s Best: Indoor Gardening, Closet Organization, and Inspiring Reads & Watches

Welcome to our monthly roundup of delightful discoveries! Each month, we curate a list of good things to see, buy, read, and watch, designed to inspire and enrich your daily life.

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Many have humorously noted how long January seemed, often describing it as having “74 days.” While the post-holiday season can certainly feel a bit slower, I find a certain calm and enjoyment in the quiet pace after the festive hubbub of November and December. For those who endured significant snow and freezing temperatures, cabin fever might indeed have made the month feel extraordinarily long. Thankfully, we typically experience cold weather without the heavy snowfall here.

Regardless of how you experienced it, January has now passed, and we enthusiastically welcome February – a month that is literally short, bringing a fresh start and new possibilities. So, let’s dive into some truly good things that have brought joy, efficiency, and learning into my life!

Discover Your Next Good Thing: Monthly Picks

Effortlessly Grow Baby Lettuce Indoors This Winter

For years, the idea of growing fresh lettuce indoors during the colder months lingered in my mind. Seeing a single head of lettuce priced at nearly $9 finally spurred me into action. I’m delighted to report that setting up a tray was incredibly quick, and the seeds sprouted with surprising speed. The photo above shows vigorous 9-day-old seedlings, but the first shoots were visible as early as day three!

Indoor lettuce cultivation offers a fantastic way to enjoy fresh, organic greens year-round, eliminating reliance on expensive supermarket produce. It’s incredibly rewarding to watch your food grow, and the process is far simpler than you might imagine. Here are the easy steps I followed to get my indoor lettuce garden thriving:

• Light Setup: I hung a short fluorescent grow light on a tiered greenhouse shelf positioned upstairs on our landing. A similar light can also be easily installed under a kitchen cabinet. You can find excellent options in my Amazon gardening shop.
• Seed Starting Tray: Use a waterproof seed starting tray without drainage holes. These typically serve as bases for smaller cell packs. Consider these 20-inch trays or these slightly shorter trays as your water-tight base.
• DIY Drainage Container: Grab a 13×9 inch foil pan from a dollar store and carefully poke several holes in its bottom for drainage. A small screwdriver works perfectly for this.
• Prepare the Soil: Fill the foil pan almost to the top with moist sterile seed starting mix, reserving a small handful for topping the seeds. It’s crucial to thoroughly moisten the mix beforehand, as it typically comes very dry. Note: While seed starting mix is ideal, a quality potting soil can also be used, and may even provide better initial nutrients. I plan to supplement with a liquid fish fertilizer as they grow.
• Seed Planting: Evenly sprinkle baby lettuce seeds (I used this excellent variety from Botanical Interests) over the prepared soil. There’s no need to create rows; simply scatter them. Then, lightly sprinkle the reserved soil over the seeds, just enough to barely cover them.
• Initial Watering: Use a gentle spray from your faucet to water the seeds from the top down, ensuring they are settled.
• Light Exposure: Place the foil pan inside the seed starting tray and position it directly under the grow lights. There’s no need to cover the tray. Set your light timer for a 16-hour “on” cycle and an 8-hour “off” cycle.

The entire setup, including gathering all materials, took me approximately 20 minutes – a one-time effort for the season! Can you believe that with just a few minutes of care every couple of days for a few weeks, we can enjoy fresh, affordable, and safe greens all winter long? I’m truly wondering why I didn’t try this sooner!

This “cut and come again” method means we can harvest from the same pan multiple times, allowing the lettuce to regrow between cuttings. My strategy is to start a second pan after the second cutting from the first, aiming for a continuous supply of baby lettuces until I need the grow lights for my spring outdoor seedlings. If you’ve successfully grown lettuce for salads indoors during winter, I’d love to hear your tips!

An Inspiring Entrepreneur Feature

The image above isn’t an advertisement; rather, it’s a snapshot from a wonderful feature! I was honored to be invited to share my journey as part of Go Solo’s Entrepreneur Stories. This involved answering a series of interview questions about my business, “An Oregon Cottage,” and the path I’ve taken.

GoSolo’s platform showcases a diverse range of entrepreneurship stories, offering invaluable insights into the lives of business owners and the unique trajectories of their success. If you’re contemplating starting a business or simply seeking inspiration, exploring these narratives can be both motivating and highly educational.

Participating in such features always prompts me to reflect deeply on the evolution of my business and how far it has come since its inception. My overwhelming takeaway is profound gratefulness. Thank *you*, my readers, for consistently engaging with the site, utilizing its resources, and following along on this journey!

Stylish & Functional Closet Organization: My New Baskets

Since moving to the farmhouse nearly two years ago, I’ve been on a mission to find specific storage baskets. My goal was to replace a rather unsightly collection of cardboard, plastic, and worn canvas boxes in our closet. While not a disaster, the visual clutter bothered me daily. I believe in making our everyday spaces and personal items beautiful, not just what guests see.

However, the search for simple, yet sturdy baskets proved surprisingly challenging and expensive! Standard prices ranged from $12-$25 per basket, and I needed four of one size and one larger one. I dedicated significant time to scouring thrift stores, but finding multiple matching baskets of a specific dimension is notoriously difficult. Discount stores also yielded little success.

Eventually, I decided to invest and ordered them online. The long, shallower basket pictured above was a particularly satisfying replacement. It neatly holds my hats and garden/workout clothes, far outperforming the plastic under-the-bed bin that used to awkwardly overhang the shelf. I found this gem at Target for under $20, which made me quite happy.

Finding the four bins needed for Brian’s clothes presented an even greater challenge due to our shelves being 12 inches long but only 10 inches high. Approximately six months ago, I ordered a set that I ultimately returned because they were too flimsy. This experience taught me to prioritize sturdy bins with a metal frame.

I finally discovered and purchased these hyacinth baskets in a set of four, which brought the individual cost down to less than $12 each. They are wonderfully sturdy, featuring a robust metal frame, and perfectly fit the shelves. They perform their function beautifully and look significantly better than the previous assortment. It’s a huge relief to no longer have that visual annoyance every time I step into the closet!

January Book Reviews: A Collection of Inspiring Reads

1. Who Do I Think I Am? Stories of Chola Wishes and Caviar Dreams, Anjelah Johnson-Reyes: As avid fans of Anjelah Johnson-Reyes’s clean, real-life observational comedy—much like Jerry Seinfeld or Jim Gaffigan—Brian and I eagerly picked up her new book on Audible. The autobiography offers a compelling look at her upbringing and journey to success, including fascinating anecdotes like her time as an extra on Friends. We were particularly moved by her initial honesty regarding her faith and the challenges of living it out in the entertainment industry. However, the book takes an unexpected turn towards the end, as she describes “deconstructing” her faith, viewing the Bible as merely stories, regretting waiting for marriage for intimacy, and embracing swearing. This shift was disheartening, as her earlier convictions felt more genuinely aligned with true liberation. It made me wish she would explore authors like Alisa Childers (reviewed below) for a deeper understanding of faith.

2. Grave Descend, Michael Crichton writing as John Lange: Another joint listen for Brian and me, this early work by Michael Crichton (under a pen name, likely during his ER doctor days) is a short mystery set in Jamaica. It follows a diver hired to locate a sunken yacht, a situation shrouded in suspicion. While the book displays glimpses of Crichton’s descriptive prowess, immersing you in the setting, the plot itself was somewhat unremarkable. We found a significant plot hole – sinking a $2 million yacht for $1 million in diamonds – that we couldn’t overlook. Despite this, it was still a reasonably engaging listen, showcasing the budding talent of a master storyteller.

3. Live Your Truth (and Other Lies), Alisa Childers: This book is incredibly timely and relevant to our current cultural climate. Alisa Childers expertly guides Christians through the often-deceptive messages found in news, books, and social media that may sound appealing but ultimately lead to anxiety and unhappiness. She critically examines popular phrases like “live your truth” and “you are the boss of you,” arguing that they place the self on a throne meant for God. For followers of Jesus, she asserts, He and the Bible are the ultimate authority. I recorded this profound quote in my Book Journal:

“The Bible isn’t about you, or me either, it’s not simply a book of wisdom to help guide us through life, nor an ancient spiritual travel journal written by people who were just doing their best to understand God…the Bible is a book about God. More specifically, it’s a book about Jesus. It reveals the nature and character of God, His plan of salvation and His overarching history of the world.”

She powerfully concludes: “Your truth doesn’t exist. Your truth won’t bring hope or save anyone…Truth is a person and He is your reward.” A truly essential read for navigating modern spiritual challenges.

4. Death at La Fenice (Commissario Brunetti Mysteries, Book 1), Donna Leon: A reader’s recommendation led me to this mystery series, after enjoying the Three Pines and Maisie Dobbs stories. This first installment was a decent procedural mystery, though certain aspects of the victim’s background were rather unappetizing. While I could see the author laying groundwork for recurring characters, the series didn’t quite “click” for me personally. I struggled to connect with Commissario Brunetti or his family, and his largely solitary work meant there wasn’t a strong companion dynamic to flesh out his character. The detailed descriptions of Venice, contrasted with allusions to other cities, also felt a bit lost on me. However, if you appreciate “cozy” procedural mysteries, it’s certainly worth giving a try.

5. How It Went, Wendell Berry: This book was a cherished Christmas gift from Brian, one I specifically requested. It’s the latest addition to Berry’s beloved Port William stories, weaving through Andy Catlett’s lifelong remembrances. Having likely read all the Port William books (with Hannah Coulter remaining a particular favorite), it was a comforting return to this fictional town. Berry beautifully portrays a community bound by mutual support, shared growth, and a deep love for the land. The narratives encompass humor, sorrow, love, and loss—mirroring the complexities of real life—all imbued with a poignant longing for a bygone era and landscape. The Amazon book page aptly summarizes its essence:

“Wendell Berry is one of our greatest living American authors, writing with the wisdom of maturity and the incandescence that comes of love.”

6. The Modern Scholar Course: Medieval Mysteries: The History Behind the Myths of the Middle Ages, Prof. Thomas E. Madden: How did Brian and I manage three audiobooks in one month? The Anjelah Johnson book was mostly a December listen, Michael Crichton’s was short, and this “Great Courses” style lecture series is also concise. We were absolutely captivated by the surprising historical facts we learned, dispelling many common misconceptions about the Middle Ages. Professor Madden begins with King Arthur, tracing the limited historical evidence that he may have existed on a much smaller scale, and how the legend expanded over centuries into the stories and films we know today.

We discovered that Robin Hood, as popularly depicted, never truly existed, though a smaller-scale figure might have inspired the tales, similar to Arthur. Fascinatingly, chastity belts are a complete myth – those found in museums are later forgeries! (When you consider the practicalities, it makes perfect sense that they couldn’t have been real.) The “right of first night” was also debunked, and the Inquisition, we learned, was far less extreme than often portrayed, with much of its negative image a product of Renaissance-era writers seeking to demonize the Middle Ages. The course concludes with the Shroud of Turin, with Madden meticulously tracing its history as an artifact whose origins remain inexplicable, even with modern technology. This type of historical detective work is incredibly engaging for both of us; if you appreciate history, I highly recommend seeking out this course or something similar.

What We’re Watching: A Heartwarming Cinematic Experience

A Man Called Otto, In Theaters: Having read the original book, “A Man Called Ove,” and watched the Swedish film adaptation with Brian, I was eager to see the American version starring Tom Hanks. We both thoroughly enjoyed it. The female neighbor co-star, Mariana Treviño, truly steals the show with her exceptional performance. The film perfectly captured the essence of the book, adapting it thoughtfully to an American setting. If you appreciate movies that blend happiness with sadness, ultimately delivering a message of hope and love, this is a must-see.

That concludes another edition of the Good Things List!

If you’d like to explore more of my favorite finds, you can browse all previous Good Things Lists here. I’d love to hear your thoughts – whether you’ve tried any of these recommendations or have your own suggestions. Please share your insights in the comments below!

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