Have you tried winter sowing?

What is winter sowing?

A couple of years ago a method of seed-starting called winter sowing appeared on my radar. I was intrigued because it sounded so easy and pretty foolproof, and it does not require any special equipment like lights and heat mats. But at that time, after doing a little research, I had the sense that the weather had to be consistently cold for it to work. That winter seemed to be too mild here in the mid-Atlantic so I decided to not try.

And it's back

Winter sowing has come up a couple of times at gardening events this winter by people who LOVE it. Back in February at a seed swap there was an unplanned discussion and lots of questions. I came away hearing that it was getting too late at that point in early February. I am ALWAYS late starting my seeds, but I was not ready so I let it go, promising myself, “There’s always next year.” 

And it came up AGAIN last night at my garden club meeting. The guest speaker just started what she called her tropical vegetables – tomatoes, eggplant, peppers – using the winter sowing method so I am going to finally try it. Don’t be scared off by the rules, gardeners!

My first attempt at winter sowing, a method to start seeds.

How to do it 

Essentially, you start seeds in clear, enclosed containers, like a milk jug or bakery clam shell that resemble a tiny greenhouse, put the trays outside in a sunny location – yup, you read that right – and leave them alone. This process is replicating seeds that are sitting in your dirt right now waiting for the right time to start sprouting. You can see in the photo:

1. I used a cupcake container from the grocery story
2. Poked drainage holes
3. Labeled each well
4. Filled the wells with seed starting mix that I thoroughly watered
5. Plopped 4 seeds per well in the mix and lightly covered
6. Placed outside in a sunny spot that is sheltered from wind

I hope you are going to try it, too! Check back so see how it goes.

Winter sowing resources on the web

Wikipedia 

Maryland Grows Blog 

WinterSown.org

Behind in your garden planning?

Behind in your garden planning? Hey, me too, what a coincidence!

I have awoken along with the daffodils that are blooming and the tulips that are sprouting.

Maybe I need that sense of urgency. I am working on finding a new full-time job, taken a part-time job, started a small business and working on a certificate in web development at my local community college so I am doing other things that have a higher priority-like earning a living.

Enter gardening which for me is a fun hobby that gives me a really important break from the stresses of life. Secondarily, it is now allowing me to procrastinate the assignment I have due this week.  

Garden Plot Spreadsheet

Here is one of the ways I plan my garden, specifically the 4 foot by 8 foot raised bed. It’s a simple Excel spreadsheet that I use to identify what is going in each square foot and what is coming up next in that same spot for the summer plot. The spinach will die off when it starts to get hot, but it can share the space with the carrots because they will grow into the summer. I have column with a list of the plants and the date I want to either start indoors or direct sow (put the seeds in the dirt outside). It is really helpful to keep notes like this to refer to next year. I am happy to share this spreadsheet, send me an email and in the meantime I am going to figure out how to share on Google Docs or something similar.

Spring vegetables like spinach, lettuce, arugula and radish will not continue to produce when it starts to get too hot, but growing these things in the spring is so rewarding. Salad alone is my goal. And planning for summer at the same time does not take all that much more time. So bundle your planning.

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If you have any questions, please get in touch via email or leave a comment below.

What do you mean I can grow carrots?

I am going through some self-reflection right now in my professional life so the ideas of change and exploring what is possible are on my mind. I ask myself often, and I now ask you, what kind of gardener do you want to be? Because you CAN be that person.

I did not really feel like a gardener until I got out of my box planting peas in the spring and tomatoes, basil and green beans in the summer. I grew up in New England, helping my father in his vegetable garden and following my grandmother around her flower beds. So that is where my gardening education started. In the fall, it got cold pretty fast. Everything got killed by frost and that was the end of the season. I have lived in Washington, D.C., for more than 20 years and it has taken me years to get out of that mindset because the climate here is so different.

It all started with carrots! These are the tendersweet variety.

My first step out of the constraints I had wrapped around myself was trying to grow carrots even though I had heard somewhere that carrots are hard to grow. Carrots are not, not, not hard to grow. Put some seeds in the dirt, thin the the seedlings out, pick, wash and BAM, you’re eating carrots you grew in your backyard.  

That small victory lead to not planting pea seeds on St. Patrick’s Day because I was not eating them. Picture me struggling with the temporary nylon trellis every year, and then training the pea plants that would not grab onto it and then shoring up the sagging trellis when the plants go too heavy and then the pods would get too large and inedible because I was not picking them…you get the picture. I was on autopilot and that was taking time away from other more important gardening to-dos.

For the first time last summer I bought a beautiful, bushy fern to hang in my porch. It felt so decadent to plunk down $15.00 at the big box store! I always would have a pang of envy driving by a house that had ferns hanging because they looked so inviting and southern. They are everywhere in my area. What does this northerner know about keeping a fern alive!?! I miss New England, even though I have been gone for more than 20 years, and this was my little way of embracing my adopted home. I am still learning how to deal with the climate and panic-inducing “snowstorms”, but my gardening hobby makes it feel like home.

Those are just a few examples of many ways I challenge myself. The successes and failures are extremely rewarding and I continue pushing my gardening boundaries because it’s so freeing and gives me inspiration.

Photo by Gerd Altmann from Pexels

My 2019 garden goals:

1.       Have a successful plot in the neighborhood community garden (if there is room for me this year) so I can meet some gardeners and donate the vegetables to a local food pantry

2.       Be honest with myself about how shady my yard is getting and learn about what can grow in those areas

3.       Deal with an awful patch in the backyard left by a construction project where weeds won’t even grow

4.       Convince my partner that the new bed I want to dig up with be filled with the beautiful flowers that he loves

So my challenge to you is to put a name on how you are going to break down some of your gardening boundaries in 2019. Maybe you want to introduce one or two new plants or you want to add a new bed to the yard or maybe you want to try growing from seed for the first time. Tell me in the comments how you are going to challenge yourself this year.

Gardening Questions? Contact me

If you have any questions about gardening, please reach out to me in an email. I am happy to help!