The Trusty Gardener-Winter Sowing Update-Success!
Kale, Pak Choi, Lettuce, Baby Napa Cabbage and More Have All Sprouted
Back in mid-February I wrote an article about Winter Sowing, a technique whereby seeds are planted in containers and placed out in the snow. Yes out in the snow, and at times completely buried in the snow. It works! We have success!
There they sit, in the cold, day after day.
A few weeks ago as the weather warmed, I peeked inside the small opening of the plastic water jugs turned mini greenhouses. And lo and behold, there was life, tiny sprouts, proclaiming that they can survive the cold and produce a crop.
I have since removed the lids and moved the containers to my portable greenhouse on the porch, which is in itself another story.
Once the seeds sprout, then the plants have to be protected from the cold, just as any other seedlings. Status upgrade, they now have graduated from the snow bank to the the warmth of the greenhouse, well on the way to flourishing in the garden come planting season.
This week is bringing daytime temperatures in the 50s and 60s. However, at night it gets close to or slightly below freezing. So at night I bring some seedlings indoors, those that are cold sensitive such as tomatoes. The veggies being grown from Winter Sowing are hardy, a little cold won’t hurt them as long as the temperatures don’t dip below 30 degrees. The greenhouse does offer some protection.
I will soon write another article regarding the heirloom tomatoes I planted since they have sprouted and are doing nicely. They are getting close to being ready for transplanting into individual pots, which is part of the hardening off process. For into about what tomatoes I planted, following is the article I wrote.
Getting back to the topic at hand, this year my Winter Sowing plantings in mid-February were Romaine Lettuce, 2 types of Kale, Scallions, and Pak Choi. Then I added Baby Napa Cabbage towards the end of February.
As I stated above, they all have sprouted and are growing nicely. The Scallions were the last to sprout as they have just sprouted in the last few days. These seedlings can remain in these containers until it’s time to plant in the garden. No need to transplant these varieties into separate containers. Since they are hardy, theses can also go in the garden earlier than plants such as tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, etc.
I have been using the Winter Sowing technique for quite a few years now, with good success. It’s fun to try and also keeps the seed containers out of the house.
