The Great Winter Sowing Project, 2010 edition

Last year for the first time, I tried winter sowing. It was a huge success, so this year, I'm expanding my efforts to include herbs and veggies. Today, I planted tomatoes, 20-something varieties of heirlooms!

One group almost ready to go to the garden cart. They've been planted, but not taped up.

The garden cart loaded with tomato jugs.

The winter sowing area of the yard. There are some annuals, perennials, and herbs in addition to the maters in those jugs.

I would've planted more, but I ran out of prepared jugs. I have 2 more 33 gal. bags full of milk, vinegar, and distilled water jugs, just have to get the DH to cut the drain holes, vent/water holes and then cut them for planting. I still have bell peppers, jalapeno peppers, and lots of perennials to plant!

Rain!

We've had almost 4.5" of rain since Wednesday. Can I tell you how happy that makes me? We've been so dry this winter and had begun to be in drought conditions. We had rain most of Wednesday, the light, gently kind that really soaks into the ground and waters it deeply. Today, we picked up almost another inch of the glorious wet stuff. Again, it was the nice, gentle kind of rain. Hopefully, this is just the beginning on the spring rains in Texas.

This was my rain gauge yesterday morning. (Happy, happy, joy, joy!)



We've finally warmed up to 39º, a big improvement over the 38º we've had for most of the day! LOL I'm happy with the rain, but not so happy with the temps. I drug in all my tender plants that are waiting to be planted and all my winter sown jugs. They probably would've been okay, but some have sprouted and I didn't want to chance the young sprouts.

After the rain ended, I went and checked out the flower beds. The pincushion flower (scabiosa) I planted last fall has bloomed. It's a very delicate pink and very cute!



The pink Texas salvia that survived the winter put out its first blooms, too!



Here's a different view, but not as easy to see the blooms.



My Autumn Joy sedum is taking off again! It's already bigger this year than it was last year. This is really easy to grow, too. You just take a piece and stick it in the ground and it grows.



Lastly, the first buds on my poppies!!




This afternoon, my husband and I planted 8 more jugs of seeds. This time, I planted:

a Butterfly/Hummingbird mix
Sunset Coneflowers
Purple Coneflowers
Butterfly Weed (orange)
Drummond Phlox (old seed, so I doubt any will germinate)
Dill
White Rock Rose
and something else that I can't remember

I'm hoping that this planting is as successful as the first one!! Next year, I'm going to buy seeds in the fall and plant early January.

My Winter Sowing Project

Starting seeds for your gardens is a lot cheaper than buying seedlings or more mature plants. However, starting seeds indoors is a pain in the patootie. You have to provide consistent water, light, heat, and hope that the gnats and spider mites don't take up residence in your soil and on your seedlings. Mold starts growing on the soil, which kills the seeds. Last fall, at the plant swap I attended, a couple of the ladies were talking about winter sowing. It sounded simple enough, so I decided to give it a go.

In winter sowing, you start your seeds after the winter solstice in the dead of winter. You leave your seeds in milk jugs (or whatever type of container you choose) outside, so that the natural life cycle of sowing seeds in your climate is mimicked. You can fill your entire landscape with plants you've winter sown. Winter sowing allows your seeds to start growing earlier, thus producing flowers earlier. For some perennials that normally don't bloom until their second growing season, you'll often get them the first season if you winter sow.

I chose to use milk jugs, rinsed of course. I asked my husband to drill some drain holes in the bottom and some air holes in the top of the jugs. Then we cut the jug on three of the four sides so that I could fill with dirt and seeds. I used old metal blinds, cut, to label the plants. If you use a plain #2 pencil to write on the blinds, it won't fade and you'll know what seeds you have in the spring.

Here's how I did it.

Step One: Drill drain holes in the bottom of your milk jug.



Mark used his drill and drilled 7 or 8 small holes in the bottoms.

Step Two: Drill vent holes in the top of the jug to allow in air and water. Discard the lids.





Steps Three & Four: Draw a cutting line about 1/4" below the bottom of the jug's handle. Cut it three-fourths of the way around the jug. Fill with about 3" of potting soil.






Step Five: Water the soil and sow your seeds. Cover with about 1/4" of soil and tamp down. Insert label on the INSIDE of the jug. If you label on the outside, use a paint pen as everything else will fade and you'll be stuck with a bunch of unknown seedlings.

Step Six: Tape the sides closed. I used duct tape and cut it into small strips. I placed one strip on each corner and one or two pieces on each side.

Step Seven: Water and place on the east side of your home or yard. This allows the jugs to get morning sun and afternoon shade. When things start heating up, you don't want the seeds to fry. Make sure you place them in the open so they can get any rain that falls. If you put them under the eaves of your house, they'll not get any rain. If you're in a drought like we are, you'll have to water them about once a week.

Step Eight: Wait and watch!!

I started these a week ago, and I noticed some seeds sprouting when I checked on them today!! Oh joy!