Welcome aboard, ohiovalleygardener,Right now I'm just trying to keep japanese beetles from eating everything and trying to Identify what plants I have that I'm not sure of and starting to collect seed...This is a wonderful site,very informitive and a truly great way to pass the winter,I had so much fun throughout the fall,trading seed then throughout the winter watching sprouts grow and coming on here and reading the posts now watching and anticipating blooms of plants I've never seen,and learning how to harvest the seed correctly..You will have a blast on here and meet some wonderful gardeners..

Since I didn't trade last year I really didn't plant that much this year. So all of my bottles I collected last year I still have. LOL I still haven't even planted out everything from the few things I did plant. I am late!!! I have a few things I am going to plant this summer to get them started before fall sets in, other than that not much more preparing I can do except collect my seeds.

As far as the seed trading goes I am not sure when that is I believe last year it was around october.

Buy dirt now. It's hard to find when the garden centers are iced over. And it freezes, so store it in a basement or garage.

Make labels now.

Cut and get the containers ready, now.

Start a list of wants on your trading page.

Update your list as you collect seeds.

Plan to be overwhelmed with offers for seeds.

Join a big swap.

Thank you for your input. I can't wait. Am collecting lots of containers and hubby is getting 2 liter bottles and milk bottles ready. I can't wait till I'm overwhelmed with seed offers. I have had a couple of people send sasbe from the seed exchange and I'm like a kid at Christmas. Looking through them and arranging them and trying to decide what I want for my yard, a friends yard, to swap. Great to be part of this group.

ohio, go to the Round Robin forum on Gardenweb and there are ongoing seed trades there all year. Christmas has a few nice ones. I joined the WLOMWL (I think), which stands for "What's Left On My Want List" swap and it was completely fantastic. I not only got so many seeds I want, but I got many extra freebies. If you are a new gardener and seed swapper there is also a Santa swap where newbies get the privilege of receiving seeds without having to send out seeds. They are generous when they know you are just starting and don't have any of your own seeds to trade but need seeds to grow. It's wonderful!

Buy some seeds now from dollar stores like foxgloves, lunaria, dianthus that are bi-annuals and start them now for next year bloom. Also start easy perennials.

Watch for seed offers for SASBE. You'll get more seeds than you can sow.
Welcome to a fun filled WS.

I'm laughing as I read your posted message. It's 96 degrees here now and here we are thinking ahead and discussing getting ready for wintersowing!

Everyone has their own methods, but I like to cut up cottage cheese containers to use as labels. Those can be done now as well.

Non-fat plain yoghurt I use when I bake blueberry muffins comes in a large quart container. Guess I could cut up the containers for labels. Thanks for the idea bev2009!!! With so may mature BBB, I get tons of berries and make muffins almost every morning during July & August. I freeze some to enjoy in January too.

It has been 96 here today and we are getting a good rain and thunderstorm..no lightning yet that I can see of. Boy, do we need this rain! I checked those milk crates that I plan to use for my WS and they hold 9 jugs(1/2 gal)size and I know I have 3 the same size and maybe 4 crates. That should be plenty to have to plant come Spring. I'm going to take Token's advice and get those milk jugs ready ahead of time. My plant markers are all done. Make sure you buy more than one marker. I see people having success writing on plastic silverware and using it inside in place of mini-blind. The mini-blind markers are kind of flimsy and I had reinforced some of them with foil tape. Invest in a roll of Heat/AC condition foil tape in place of using duct tape. It is about $8 a roll but goes a long ways and comes off easily when you pull it off and no sticky residue like duct tape. Last year I used an old soldering iron to poke my holes in my milk mugs. Quick and easy, just watch where you lay it when you are using it.

Gardenweed, I have no fruit growing in my yard but would like to add some. I'm not big on spraying chemicals and that is holding me back. Do you have to spray your BBB or is there a way to grow them more organically? Thanks!

bev2009 - My father planted all different blueberry cultivars here when I was around 14 years old. They're in a straight row, 80 ft. long. After so many years they've grown taller than the wooden frame he built around them to support tobacco netting he used to keep the birds from getting all the berries. He planted different cultivars so the berries start ripening in late June-early July and the last bush in the row still has berries in September most years.
BBB need 3 things--full sun, wet feet & acid. The soil here is very good and the water runs down right where they're planted so that takes care of the wet feet. They get plenty of sun but not as much as when they were planted since the trees have grown much taller over the years.
To answer your question, I do nothing to them except give them a dose of MiracleGro Acid fertilizer--same stuff you use on azaleas & rhodies--twice a year. First feeding is Patriot's Day (running of the Boston Marathon); second and last feeding is Memorial Day. That's all I do. They're covered (more or less) by black plastic deer fencing but the birds and other critters still get under the netting. I never spray--they aren't bothered by many insects but I wouldn't anyway.
Please feel free to email me if you have other questions. I got my information on caring for them from a woman nearby who has a farm where you can pick your own. Everything she told me was confirmed by other research I did.
Eileen

Do pay attention to the suggestions of getting soil now. Potting soil can be really hard to come by in winter. And if you buy it at Home Depot or the like, in winter it's outside, frozen, and buried in snow.

Karen

Thanks Eileen. I will definitely look into this more.

still collecting gallon containers, but not doing much aside from that. Mostly looking at seed/plant catalogs and dreaming about what I will WS next year!

I think I will try to start my label-making earlier this year, maybe making multiple labels for each container so I will have enough for each HOS. This spring I could barely keep up with the planting, much less make plant markers for everything. As I was planting, I assumed I would remember what I planted where. Now, I'm weeding my garden, wondering "is this a weed or is this something I planted on purpose?"

When I plant multiples of one plant in an area I make one named label and then place a blank label by the others so I know the seedlings are not weeds and if I don't remember the name I can find the marked label nearby.

Saves time marking labels and the blanks can be reused when the plants are larger.

Because I have sown and planted so many plants I find that making the labels ahead of time and keeping them straight (even when alphabetized) actually takes longer than marking the labels as I plant out. I keep mini-blind labels and a pencil or paint marker in my pocket and it only takes seconds to mark and place next to the plant.

I also use white plastic knives that I buy in bulk from Costco. I push them way down in the soil and amongst the leaves otherwise it looks (as another poster said awhile ago) like a mini grave yard.