Winter sowing is putting seeds in containers with at least 4 inches of soil. Usually folks use gallon milk jugs (the jugs that aren't fully white), cut open just at the bottom of the handle and add some slits at the top and bottom of the jug. Put some soil in, water, plant the seeds and cover as the packets say. Close the jug and duct tape the seam. Leave the cap off and place it outside, anytime between the winter solstice and the first day of spring. Seeds sprout when they're ready, no matter how much rain/snow/ice they get. You can spring sow things like cucumbers, squash, eggplant, etc.
So... I have a ton of jugs, and a bunch of smaller containers. I've transplanted out peas and mustards already. I always struggle with beets and radishes, and so I started those and transplanted some radishes yesterday. I have a bunch of kale to transplant out this weekend, and some leeks, spring onions (green onions) and red and yellow storage onions. Plus some spinach and lettuces that are ready to transplant. Most of those are transplanted as "hunk of seeds" where you take the chunk of plants out of the container and saw it up in a few pieces to plant.
I have a lot of perennial and annual flowers started too - African daisy, Indian blanket flower (like 4 varieties), cosmos, zinnia, bee balm, poppies, violas, nicotiana, rudbeckias, hollyhocks, lupine, black eyed Susan vines, marigolds, calendula, coreopsis. And herbs like thyme, borage, tarragon. Some unusual root crops like black salsify and skirret.
All the stuff just sprouts when it is time for it to sprout. It's pretty amazing. Fairly little work for me, other than the initial sowing and then the planting out. The plants are already acclimated to the local weather and have already survived various freezing temperatures. I'll be spending less at the garden center this year.
I still started my tomatoes and peppers indoors. New this year is February Fire pepper, which is a cold hardy pepper that can live for about, oh, 30 years. Really challenging to get the seeds to germinate, but I found one sprout this morning. Cool black seeds.
Oh, one thing I couldn't resist today was Elephant Ear. Costco was selling a two pack of bulbs. Each bulb is the size of a cantaloupe. I've seen them growing in the ground here and there, and have always wanted one. For $18, I figured it'd be worth a try. Not an edible, just a really cool looking huge plant.
= new reply since forum marked as read
