Winter sown success

I'll admit it now, I was starting to have my doubts.

My little winter sown seeds in pop bottles were being alternatively frozen and thawed, frozen and thawed in such a way that I thought that the seeds would shatter before they have a chance to sprout.

At least two sets of seeds saw things differently:


Linen flax, collected from a garden plant.


Another angle.


The rose hibiscus has also spouted. What I really hope makes it is the butter and eggs wild snap dragon. I will definitely try this technique next year, though I think I will put the pop bottle homes in my spaceship hoophouse to further speed germination.

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A series of little posts to catch up. My other half has been monopolizing the computer because of work or some other similar excuse!

The Snow StickGardening in Ottawa

I would like to introduce you to my friend, the snow stick. I use it yearly as diversion while the snow melts away, sometimes slowly and sometimes in a sudden slushy flood.


Snow stick in front of winter sown flowers.

This year started off as an El Nino year meaning less percipitation and higher temperatures so we got less snow than usual. Therefore I could only jam it 20cm into the ground:



The snow may be higher, we'll see. The fun really starts when you lose support near the end but by then I am usually doing the happy spring dance (on the pavement so as not to damage the soil...) so it doesn't matter.

Links:

El Nino and Canada

Winter Sowing - the booty (in the boot)

(Boot is a trunk in UK English - blaim my dad)

I have returned triumphant from a prowl around town on plastics pickup day. Right away, I took a bottle out and prepared it for use not thinking too much about the best technique. Here is the series for your amusement:

I decided on some tomatoes (for the challenge) and Kholrabi to start. More to come.












Out to the snow with you!

Better techniques can be found in the following posts:

http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/wtrsow/msg0123014311072.html
http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/canwtrsow/msg090058254989.html

Looking forward to seeing how this experiment turns out.

For Part 1 on Winter Sowing

Official Wintersown Website

Winter Sowing - really, I mean outdoors

I bumped into this concept twice. Technically, only one is the true winter sowing, a technique popularized, and self discovered, by Trudi Davidoff. The other source is the 12 month gardener*. What it involves is sowing seeds outside under cover in the depths of winter, even in the frigid zones, and then letting them germinate and grow on outside. No taking up light space, and hardier seedlings. Sounds like a great idea!

Trudi describes her method of winter sowing like this:

With the Winter Sowing germination method you will be able to start hardy seedlings for pennies. Winter Sowing is done outdoors during the season of winter using mini-greenhouses made from recyclables; there are no heating devices, no energy-wasting lights or expensive seed starting devices. WinterSown.Org is a member of the National Agricuture Library AgNIC Alliance.

Tired, of leggy seedlings:



I think that I will give it a try.


Starting with:

1. brassicas: kohlrabi, cabbage, pak choy, chinese cabbage (michili), rabe, broccoli, collards
2. celariac
3. florence fennel
4. leaf crops: spinach, lettuce, chicory, endive, 7 top turnips, mache
5. alliums: leeks, onions
6. herbs: dill, coriander
7. roots: turnips, beets, carrots
8. flowers: tall snapdragon (wildflower), alyssum
9. Ottawa Hortiphilia tomatoes: a variety that self-seeded - appeared - in my garden last year with interesting properties including cold tolerance.

Stay tuned...

Links

http://www.wintersown.org/

*This book is available in the Ottawa Public Library