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!
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| 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:
- I used a cupcake container from the grocery story
- Poked drainage holes
- Labeled each well
- Filled the wells with seed starting mix that I thoroughly watered
- Plopped 4 seeds per well in the mix and lightly covered
- 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
WinterSown.org
