Winter Sowing

It’s good to be back, I’ve had a long rough week. I’m sorry I neglected my site but I’ve updating my computer and I had to wait until I could upload my photos. I thought I would just make up for my lack of posting with several posts over the next couple of days.

It’s been raining forever. At least it feels like forever but in reality it’s been more than two weeks straight of rain. Last Sunday, I thought I would defy the weather gods and garden in the wind and the rain. I did some weeding, spotted some bulbs peeking through the mulch and dirt (daffodil, crocus, and lily). The Easter lily we planted two years ago has already started to pop up and is growing nicely.

I then attempted to start winter sowing. Winter sowing is a gardening method of using plastic containers and modifying them into little green houses. The seeds will grow during the winter and by spring they should be ready to transplant. I thought I would start with my different spinach varieties since they didn’t like the pampered environment of the indoor garden. You can use any sturdy clear plastic container such as milk jugs, take out containers, soda bottles etc. I used old soda bottles and plastic take out containers. I drilled holes into the bottom and the top of the take out boxes and I put a mix of soils and then sealed and labeled the containers. I placed them in a sunny location where hopefully they will grow nice lush green vegetables. I also planted some seeds directly into the ground and then used the soda bottles as a “cloche”. I cut the bottoms off the soda bottles, removed the caps, and secured the bottles about an inch or two into the ground around the plant. You remove the cloche when the plant leaves start to rub against the container. I planted Bloomsdale spinach, Catalina spinach, Black Seeded Simpson lettuce, and four seasons lettuce. The spinach is looking great and I’m noticing that the spinach with the cloches are bigger and fuller than the ones I just planted as a placebo.