Before we get crafting the mini greenhouses that make winter sowing feel sort of like a pre-school art project, let’s go over the basics.

What is Winter Sowing?

Winter sowing is a way to work with Mother Nature to grow plants from seed. You plant seeds in a container and set them outside. They sprout in the containers and are ready to plant out into your garden from there. Trudi Greissle Davidoff was the first to write about the process of winter sowing.

The concept started by mimicking nature with seeds that need to be cold stratified. Stratification means the seeds need spend a certain amount of time in the cold usually around freezing before the seed’s ‘timer’ will go off and break dormancy to germinate. You can cold stratify seeds indoors with the help of a refrigerator or freezer, and seed packets will suggest the temperature and length of time needed.

Most tough native seeds also need to go through a freeze/thaw process to help weaken and break down their tougher seed coats to break dormancy and prepare them for germination. This is why ‘snow seeding’, which is the practice of scattering seeds once it starts snowing up north, works so well.

Planting seeds that need to be cold stratified inside a container gives you the best of both worlds. They will still be set to nature’s schedule of freezing and thawing, but you will also get a bunch of seedlings that you can keep an eye on and transplant when you’re ready. The seedlings also have the boost of not competing with other weed seeds and a little warmer and protected environment.

When planting our garden’s annual vegetable seeds, we’re not doing it to cold stratify them, because those seeds don’t require that. We winter sow vegetable seeds for the other benefits.

Winter Sowing bonuses include:

*Earlier seedlings
*No hardening off
*Stronger plants
*No extra equipment
*Recycling plastic

Simple + Eco Friendly

This process does not require any extra inputs to start seeds a little earlier. I will say that up in Minnesota (Zone 4) we likely won’t get a full harvest from our peppers or eggplants, (tomatoes mostly catch up) when started this way. However, there are quite a few plants which work wonderfully using this method.

You will most likely be reusing a plastic container. Not having to buy ‘extras’ is something to take into consideration when thinking about the costs of grow lights, heat pads, fans, and the energy to run them all. Those can add up to a big investment and a bit of an energy drain if you are diving into seed starting.

Making Your Winter Sowing
Mini Greenhouse Jug

I have posted 3 videos of the process on my YouTube for you visual learners!
* Winter Sowing Introduction
* Making and planting your Mini Greenhouse
* Placing your Mini Greenhouse Outside

Winter Sowing Vegetable Seeds

Now I get to share my findings about starting annual vegetables in winter sowing containers. We’re basically creating mini Greenhouses! As I’m always interested in trying new ways to garden, I dove into this years ago. Over the years I’ve trialed a few different varieties of cool weather vegetable crops a few different ways.

• out in the open
• under low tunnels
• under plastic totes
• inside my cold frame

Building on Elliot Coleman’s (Four Season Farm) writing that “The double layer moves the plants 1,000 miles to the south,” I wanted to see if growing under double ‘layers’ of protection translated well to this situation. In addition, I wanted to see if this really did anything to increase the growth rate, etc. on the spring side of seed starting rather than extending the harvest season.

I started with some of my standard cool weather crops. Overall, I got great results and so much valuable information to pass along.

Timing the Seed Starting

I’m a Minnesota Zone 4 (almost 5) gardener. We have pent-up gardening energy to burn in the late winter/early spring. So let’s funnel that into starting our best gardens yet!

Find your Frost Date Predictor at your state’s Department of Natural Resources page. Minnesota DNR Frost/Freeze Probability Dates

The probability of last frosts in my growing area range from mid-April to early May. Based on these dates and overall germination temperature requirements (see chart below), I have found that late February to early March works best for sowing the cool season annual vegetable seeds under double protection. You could set out winter sown containers earlier, but the above dates coincide with my indoor sowing of the same crops—and I’m all about streamlining seeding!

Vegetables Started + Results

My trials for winter sown containers out in the open showed 7-14 days of earlier germination and sustained growth compared to planting directly into the soil. My seeds started in winter sown containers under either a cold frame or low tunnel for an additional layer of protection were 10-20 days ahead. That time gained may be worth it to some; to each their own. That’s what makes gardening so fun—you get to decide!

*I usually sow varieties below in Winter Sown Containers
at the end of February inside my cold frame.

Spinach – Great germination. I start spinach in a jug in the cold frame. Transplanted into cold frame mid-March; those transplants took well. Transplanted out the rest of the spinach into open ground by peas mid-April. Picture of spinach in cold frame on April 25 looking great after transplanting. My first real harvest May 8. The star of my winter sowing trials.

Beets – Great germination. I was late to transplant, but grew to better sized bulbs than those I started inside a few weeks earlier.

Pak Choi – Decent germination, super tough plants that are harvestable before most insect pests have even shown up in the garden. Very happy, hearty plants.

Romaine (Winter Density) – Great germination, good transplanting. Got a few delicious extra-early harvests from double covered winter sown seedlings. But then it evened out (between the winter sown and direct seeded plants) as they grew to maturity.

Tatsoi – Great germination and even though transplanted later, did really well. We harvested as baby crop.

Broccoli – Decent germination rate. Took a little hit at transplant, but were stronger overall plants than my indoor-sown Belstar Broccoli plants. Similar final harvest dates and sizes.

Kale – Good germination and transplant, but not much earlier (or anything else noticeable) to harvest as compared to direct sown because I harvest these later in the season. Sowed both Scarlet and Dwarf Scotch Curly.

Minimum Soil Temps for Germination

35°– 45°F: Lettuce, Spinach, Arugula

40°-50°F: Beets, Parsley, Kale, Leeks, Onions, Kohlrabi

45°-55°F: Broccoli, Cauliflower, Pak Choi, Tatsoi,

55°-65°F: Cabbage, Swiss Chard

60°F: Celery, Tomatoes

*These temps are different from optimal germination temps, which run 10-20°F higher. For a full germination temp chart see page 46 of our book, Small-Scale Homesteading.

Looking Forward

What will I be adding this year? More winter-sown herbs, a few flower trials, and a second set of outdoor-sown brassicas (my favorite cool weather crops). I am also eager to see if there are any differences to starting winter-sown jugs in a greenhouse vs. a cold frame. Plant nerds unite!

My Winter Sowing Schedule

Late February – Mid-March
Spinach, Lettuces, Beets, Cabbages, Broccoli, Kale, Brussels Sprouts, Onions

Mid-March
Thyme, Salvias, Oregano, Cilantro, Parsley, Basil

Mid-April
Cosmos, Zinnia, Marigolds, 2^nd sowing of  Lettuce +  Bok Choy

So, have I inspired you to try this form of sowing seeds? I’ll be keeping up with sharing my winter sowing adventures on my stories on my Instagram and Facebook social media accounts. I hope you follow along with us too!

Love Digging in – especially in when there’s still snow on the ground!
Michelle

The post Using the Winter Sowing Technique with Vegetables appeared first on Forks in the Dirt.

Local Info to Get You Growing

More Americans are growing their own food – the numbers have been rising and were bumped up with the pandemic last spring, and the trend is here to stay!

Let’s take a tour of the places and faces of our local gardening scene!

Minnesota Garden Organizations

We’re so lucky our state values agriculture in all it’s forms!

The Minnesota State Horticultural Society has a long history of being at the forefront of helping northern gardeners thrive! Their resources include classes, Magazine The Northern Gardener, blogs, Seed collecting and distribution and bringing ‘Garden in a Box’ kits to communities across the state.

Part of the University of Minnesota extension services, the Master Gardener program educates volunteers. These volunteers educate residents in proven, eco-friendly gardening techniques to improve our environment. The Master Gardeners also accept questions via email via the “Ask a Master Gardener” link on the site. This site goes from soil sampling and seed sowing, to preserving the harvest.

The U of MN BEE LAB is another amazing resource for gardeners looking to work with nature and her ultimate pollinating machines. Resources on plant options, City Beekeeping rules and native pollinator trends abound.

Wild Ones is all about Native Plants + Natural Landscapes. They teach people about the importance of native plants, for the health of the environment and everything living in it. Our goal is to get more native plants in the ground in all landscapes — homes, businesses, schools, and more. They have a few different MN chapters so be sure to find the best fit for your area!

Local Plant Sales for 2023

These plant sales will start your garden off right! Good for your garden, the pollinators, your harvests and the community. Plants grown for these sales are never treated with Neonicotinoid pesticides, are non-GMO, locally raised by experts- and the sales directly benefit some great gardening programs.

Friends School Plant Sale
May 12th-14th, at the State Fair Grounds

With 1,000’s of plant varieties this may be the largest single plant sale in the U.S. It is a fundraising event for the Friends School of Minnesota, a small Quaker K-8 school in St. Paul. Plants are grown as naturally as possible, 80% from local growers.

Ramsey County Master Gardeners Plant Sale
May 20th, 2022 – 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.​

Church of the Holy Childhood
1435 Midway Pkwy, St Paul

Over 300 varieties of plants grown by local master gardeners. The proceeds from this sale benefit the University of Minnesota Extension Master Gardener programs in Ramsey County. 

Garden Clubs

Garden Clubs are a great way to get involved with your group of local gardeners. Most hold monthly meetings with speakers during the off season (Sept-April) with plant sales, community garden and other causes they support. Many towns and counties have their own clubs, here are a few I know and love.

Wild Ones

Mahtomedi Garden Club

Dakota County Garden Club

Northfield Garden Club

Community Gardens

Our town boasts some fabulous community gardens. I’ve got an article about community gardens and why they matter. These are places where all levels of gardeners grow together. Some of these have classes, and ‘in service’ times when a more experienced gardener will be on site.

Seed Libraries

A seed library is just what it sounds like, a place where you can “check out” a packet of seeds to grow, enjoy the fruits or flowers of your labor. Then, bring back enough seeds to replenish and hopefully increase the seed stock for the next season, for FREE! More info in the article Seed Saving Starts Now !

Our very own White Bear Lake Public Library houses the volunteer run WBL Seed Library. Join their email list at the website above to stay in the know about packing and class events

The Minnesota Horticultural Society runs the MN SEED project and the pop up Como Community Seed Library are also great resources for local seed.

Many Paths to Eating Local

If you love fresh and local food but not gardening, you can support our local farmers by signing up for a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) and I have a blog post all about some great local CSA options in the CSA’s So Many Ways Blog Post. Or if you’re like me and grow a lot, but not everything your family eats, try shopping our very own White Bear Lake Farmers Markets, starting up the last Friday in June. I have some Farmers Market Shopping Tips for you too. If you’d like to check out more on some specific farmers, dig into my Farmers page, which links to interviews with local small farms.

For more “How To” info, you can always check out the Forks in the Dirt Blog, or Instagram feed where I sift through lots of local food info and have full blog posts on CSA’s, gardening tips, upcoming garden events and recipes for using your harvest.

Whichever way you choose to eat locally, I hope you Dig Your Food!
Michelle

The post Home Grown Garden Resources appeared first on Forks in the Dirt.

Thanks for being a part of the inaugural year of Forks in the Dirt!
I hope you had as much fun as I did!

Writing from the frozen tundra of Minnesota this first morning of 2018 (a brisk -13° F) I know the temperature means no gardening for even the toughest Midwest gals; for example our chickens have also decided to stay inside today. And yet, I appreciate the way our extreme seasons keep me tethered to the cycles of our planet. My love for this earth grows deeper every year I grow food with its help.

The best way for me to use these frozen months is to dream big for the coming year. Being able to cozy up with seed catalogs, look back through garden pictures from the previous summer, think about what we ate and what we wanted to eat more of… Having time to regroup for the upcoming season is a gift; I remind myself as I look longingly at the snow drifted garden beds.

The best way to get my imagination rolling have always been books, and now and online research too.

There is an overwhelming amount of information out there. I’ve gotten lost for hours ending up on the farthest ‘out there’ branches of my original quest… ( succession planting, rotational gardening, clean food recipes, etc) but those times have let me weed out the useless sites and pick the ripest, juiciest sites truly worth our time.

Here are a few of my favorite Links:

Savvy Gardening: regular contributor Niki Jabbour is queen of season extension and one of my gardening heroes. Real Info for real gardeners

100 Days of Real Food: This was where I first went for recipe inspiration using real, clean food- and still refer to it often.

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle:  One of the first books I read about growing more of your own food and the impact eating  local can make. Now a website with info and recipes. Plus, Barbara Kingsolver is a favorite author of mine

Civil Eats: So much information about food systems and environment, all broken down in bite size pieces. If you’re ready to dig deeper they recently listed their favorite food and farming books of 2017 .

I’ll stop there, but if there’s a foodie, farmer or gardening topic you’re curious about, I probably have a link for that. I do have more info links on my Do Good Page.

My personal goals for 2018 include:
*Planning for and planting our doubled vegetable garden space,
*Preserving more of my own food (dehydrating, freezing, fermenting and canning),
*Finding a local sustainable source for organic oats and chicken meat,
*Becoming a better Chicken + Kid Mom
*Finding more of that elusive “Balance”

My 2018 goals for Forks in the Dirt include:
*Meeting and writing about more local farmers,
*Inspiring awareness in the food choices we make,
*Expanding the White Bear Lake Winter Farmers Market.

What are your gardening and food goals for 2018??
Let me know and we can work on them together!

Wishing you many chances to dig in and grow in new ways in 2018.

Cheers!

Michelle

The post New Year, New Growth appeared first on Forks in the Dirt.