Me (Jan 7 2023): I learned from last year that I should be patient and wait longer to start seeds.

Also me (Jan 8 2023): (starts seeds)

I may have discovered a way to satisfy my need to plant some seeds in January without ending up with a vegetable garden in my living room all spring: winter sowing.

Is this the solution to many of my seed-starting problems?

I think I found something that will work for me to reduce some of the burden / monitoring / maintenance / space issues I have with seed starting indoors in my makeshift grow house. I found this amazing video by Growit Buildit that spoke directly to many of my questions. I follow his recommendations closely in my own setup.

Winter sowing basically just means make some little greenhouses, plant seeds, keep them relatively moist, and nature will take care of the rest. Based on the video, this is great for my situation for several reasons:

• When it’s time for seeds to germinate they will! No date planning spreadsheets required.
• Seeds that require winter/ cold stratification are getting it (strawberries, lavender etc.)
• They don’t need to be in direct sun, so I can keep them in my yard!
• They only need to be watered a few times all winter.
• I can do something now, and won’t have to make space for them in March.
• No extra step gradually hardening off seedlings.

It sounds too good to be true, but I’ll give it a shot!

My winter sowing setup

I bought potting soil. I buy this compressed block for early / indoor potting stuff because I’m doing most of this work in my guest bathroom and prefer the more manageable option in terms of space and mess (but is any form of potting soil ever really wieldable without making a mess?). It needs to be fluffed and moistened, so I decided to add a diluted dose of organic fungicide into the water I added. Hopefully this will discourage some of the damp issues I had with seedlings last year.

Next, we’re basically making little greenhouses. Most popular container of choice on the internet is gallon milk jugs. I had an assortment of similar jugs, plus one seed tray and a few clear plastic takeout cups with lids (all already on-hand, I tend to save these things for gardening already anyway). For each container I punched drain holes in the bottom, cut or opened to place soil, planted seeds and labeled, taped up with the tops and bottoms open to air, and placed outside.

I picked the following plants to try out:

• Ones that need cold / stratification to germinate: strawberry, lavender, echinacea, and milkweed
• Others for kicks or because they grow so slowly: leeks, rosemary, calendula

It took about an hour between planning, prepping, filling, sowing, labeling, and putting outside. Hopefully this will work. If not, it’s not really a huge loss. I just have to check in and water them occasionally to make sure they stay moist. Much lower maintenance than indoor seedlings, it seems.

Updates

April progress