Dianne Justeen wrote:Want to bump this old thread back up since now is the perfect time for winter sowing. I just learned about doing this on purpose and it's so instinctual, I can't believe this isn't a common gardening practice. I routinely get "volunteer" kale, tomatoes, arugula, some herbs, so why not add some intentionally winter sown plants? Quite coincidentally to the original poster, my husband was laid off last summer and while he's been able to get a couple of contracting jobs, he's yet to land a job with benefits. So we're keeping our belts tight. Great chance to learn new and cheaper ways to grow food and pretty flowers.
Does anyone have advice about this, or anything a "newbie" should know? What has been your experience with this? How closely do you put the seeds? Seems like the plants live in there a while so super-close spacing doesn't seem advisable. We live in US Zone 6 in an urban (sheltered) location with a tiny yard but our land for gardening is 150 miles north in US Zone 5b on a windy site with lots of sun exposure and lots of garden space. Planned on setting up in my tiny yard using the basic method on wintersown.org then bring to the main garden at planting time. Will be using recycled gallon jugs as containers and cheap, basic potting mix.
Dianne, I am in Western NY in a 5B as well. I winter sowed a bunch of stuff. I will let you know how it turns out I am very curious. My main question though, has anyone tried this technique with medicinal "magic beans"?
