How long did it take....?

greengardener07

17 years ago

To admit to yourself that you have the WSA? You know, Winter Sowing Addiction!

Was it when you would look at things and say that you could use that?

Was it at work when a co-worker caught you raiding the trash for containers or coffee grounds?

Was it when you worked up the nerve to ask family members to save their milk jugs so you can use them?

Was it when you worked up the nerve to ask Starbucks to save their used coffee grounds and filters for you?

Was it when you would go out on recycling night and raid your neighbor's recycling bins (while dressed in dark clothes so you wouldn't be noticed)?

Was it when you saw something great in someone's trash and you jammed it into the car or truck and took it home to use it for the next round of wintersowing, which was 6 months away?

Whatever the case maybe, let us know!

Mine was when I filled up half the deck with containers and I was searching for more space. I remember the look on my wife's face when she saw all them, then the overflow. But then again, she loves the end result! Just not the mess.

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Comments (11)

Carol_from_ny
17 years ago
I've been a plant junky for years. The WSing addiction is new. I knew I was hooked when I was drinking more juice just so I could have the extra bottles to sow in.
pulldownclaw
17 years ago
Ha! It was recycling day here today, so just last night I was out with my trashbag "walking the dog" with my headlamp on raiding the neighbors recycling bins! I kept thinking "if my neighbors see me and the word gets out I'm a lunatic my wife will kill me".
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token28001
17 years ago
I think of it as a "gateway" addiction. It feeds the need for more plants.
just1morehosta
17 years ago
Ahhhhh,
For me it was when i spotted some seed,( not mine )and the thought went through mt head,"Hummmmmm,i really should gather some of that" second thought was,"Oh lord have mercey,i am turning into a seed snatcher"
cAROL
sunny631
17 years ago
Think it was when I sowed about 10 times more stuff than I have room to plant. And that was just the perennials.
nancy_drew
17 years ago
For me it's actually happened twice. In 04/05 and then again this year. This year, I thought I had it all together. I knew about how many plants I wanted to end up with, and that was what I would sow, with a few extra... just in case. I started saving toilet paper rolls over the summer. I had about 150 and thought for sure I had enough, yet I still kept saving them... and I still do.

In the beginning of this year, I told my husband I wanted a cold frame 3x4 feet. When he came home with the parts I said "Oh no honey, that's a bit small, make it 3x5." He wasn't pleased, but went along with it anyway, shaking his head. I looked at it when he was done and thought to myself... wow. That's a pretty big cold frame....

By the end of December, I ran out of lasagna pans and kitty litter boxes to sow my tp rolls in. I asked my husband to start getting me the water bottles from work. That was when a little light went off in my head, that I was beginning to get really carried away... but did I pay attention? Nooooo... I started gathering jugs O.J. cartons then!

My cold frame was almost full within a week or two after being built and now I'm hiding jugs behind it. I still have all my annuals to sow, along with a few veggies. Not sure where I can hide those, but where there's an addict with OCD, there's a way!

Hell, I'm still waiting on the stores here to put out their seed racks!!
moon458
17 years ago
I think it was when I viewed all you guy's pics of your gardens!!!

Went to the recycling center and the man there had two big boxes and two large trash barrels full of milk jugs waiting for me... Hubby had told him I was looking for some. I think I owe the guy a 6 pack.

Donna Mae
mnwsgal
17 years ago
When I started planning my ws for this year and realized that I don't even know where I am going to put all the second and third year plants that are in my holding beds. Still, I NEED to ws these seeds. Maybe I will like the blooms/leaves of this variety more and I have to try this new to me plant that everyone is talking about/posting photos of on Garden Web.
PVick
17 years ago
The time it took me to read Trudi's original essay on winter sowing and realize I could actually GROW those plants I had been oogling all over the web. Maybe 10 minutes?

PV
littleonefb
17 years ago
I'm with PV.

Finished reading Trudi's original info on WS way back in July 2003 and said to myself, "I'm up a creek without a paddle and hooked without even starting."

The clincher to knowing the addiction was real, truly real, was around May 15, 2004. When I came face to face with 1250 WS containers of all different sizes and realized that I had 1225 containers full of annuals, biennials and perennials to plant out and felt like a kid in the toy store and was told I could have anything in the store I wanted to take home with me.

Oh, the other 25 containers didn't germinate because they turned to solid bricks having been filled with cheap, cheap top soil.

Fran
terrene
17 years ago
I've been an avid gardener for over 20 years, and probably a bone fide addict for about 5 years. There has been a progressive worsening of the addiction in recent years. Prognosis is poor - no real treatment or cure.

While I have grown a few plants from seed each year for many years, started to winter-sow last year has really put me over the top. To discover that you can grow lots of plants, whatever your heart desires and mind can imagine! Cheaply and easily! I was a goner. :)