If we are talking north american native medicinal herbs, they are wonderful candidates for winter sowing. In fact many need winter conditions to break seed dormancy. The winter sowing forum here or WinterSown.org are great resources on how and for lists of plants that can be wintersown.

FataMorgana

thanks for your suggestion!

Just remember that winter sowing is a lot different from starting seedlings indoors under lights or on a windowsill. If you're starting seeds indoors to set out for spring planting, it's important to time them so that the plants are just 4-6 weeks old when you set them out -- and give them plenty of light. Otherwise they'll become root-bound or elongated and will never thrive outdoors.