I'm starting to experiment with this. Thanks for bringing it up.

Me too
This will be my third year.
However the 1st year I did 100+ pots.
This year was around 30 and some still to be planted.
This year I did not even exchange seeds :(

sowing what?

Hi Carc....
I see you are a new member and so I say "WELCOME" to you.
The winter sowing site is a place where people meet on the web and talk about planting seeds in the dead of winter. I tried it and did have some success...but some things didn't grow for me. I may have done it wrong..so will try a few things again this year .
Helps to pass the long January :)

Here is the link to the site...Read the question and answer part at the top of the page.
Have fun :)

Here is a link that might be useful: winter sowing

Carc,

I have been winter sowing for the past three years. Moving to a new and much bigger property in 2001, I felt it expensive to buy at the nurseries to fill the gardens, and winter sowing helped me do this immensely - to the point that I give a lot of plants away now because I've had so much success with it. I also don't have lights in the basement, or a greenhouse and this is a great alternative.

Having said that, I feel that sometimes we Canadians have to adjust our timing a bit in regards to this method. I realize that some folks will dispute me on that point, but I start sowing in February on the 14th, and then continue with my heaviest sowings happening in March/April.

During the early stages in February, I pick a day when the weather is calling for milder temps for about 3 days. I will sow in temps no lower than -10C. Having followed this rule in my second and third year, I've met with much more success than I did in my first year.

You should really try it! My gardens are now full of Hardy Hibiscus, Butterfly Bushes, Mallows of different kinds, Foxgloves of several varieties, Astilbes, perennial Geraniums, 5 different Lynchnis, Dianthus, Coneflowers, and so much more. I am also sowing many annuals which I rarely used before, and doing a bit of container gardening which I never did.

And if you are lacking seeds, do check-out the Canadian Exchange Forum!

you mean actually starting stuff OUTSIDE? I thought it was to do with us (WE?) poor addicted souls starting seed indoors in the dead of winter. Your method seems to require shovelling back snow and taking a pickaxe to the ground! Is that right?

Naw! Nothing that complicated! :-)

The quick and easy version is - you take a cut down milk or water jug (or anything else about that size, or bigger), fill it with soil, and sow your seeds as you would if you were going to do it all inside. Then you place the container in a plastic baggie with a couple of holes poked in the top (for ventilation), and one poked at the bottom(for drainage), and put it outside (but not in the sun). Once spring is really here you can take off the baggie and you're done. It might take a couple of tries before you get the hang of it, but it works well and is pretty easy, but the best thing is that it frees up some space under the lights for more seeds :-)

It works quite well for any seed that benefits from a cold period (stratification). The freeze/thaw cycles break down the seed coat, and the plastic baggie keeps the moisture in and acts as a bit of a greenhouse. The seeds are slower to sprout than if you'd done it inside, but it's much less fuss, and by the end of June it's impossible to tell the difference between seedlings started inside and seedlings started outside - actually some plants will be further ahead if winter sown, due to the fact that they didn't have to go through an acclimation period.

You can get as fancy and as complicated as you like - some refinements bring a higher success rate, and some just make certain aspects of the process easier.

I don't winter sow because I hate, hate, hate the cold and going outside in the winter. It's my loss since I don't have much indoor space to begin with, but I also kind of like the fussing that goes with the indoor starting - it's an early spring for me :-)

BP

LOL!! Triple b you're a hoot! Or maybe you were actually serious...

No there's no shoveling here, and no pickaxe either. I posted a link to the Winter Sowing Forum for you to check out.

My containers go out on the deck, and on many occasions you will see me do this in my PJs with big fluffy slippers on. No, no pick axe... LOL!! Might have to shovel the snow off the deck a couple of times, but that's fine by me. As long as I know what I'm doing is gardening in the middle of February!

Here is a link that might be useful: Winter Sowing Forum