Time to get out the cold frames and small greenhouses, I guess! I hope my artichokes survive(d) the winter!

~ David

I'm glad you discovered winter sowing. Did you read the FAQs on the forum? About the potting soil, I would recommend Miracle Grow potting soil. I promise you will have lots of fun with this. If you need any help along the way, let me know. Also, ask a lot of questions at the winter sowing forum. The people there are so willing to help.

Here are a few more pictures of my winter sown plants.

Pretty flowers Derek!

I am REALLY "antsy" to get some winter sowing done, but STILL looking for some potting soil that is NOT frozen.

I was tempted to buy a big bag yesterday, but thought twice when I wondered where I would set it to thaw out.
The Walmart that I went to had an entire truck full of frozen potting soil, but are waiting to set it out when it warms up.

I believe we will be above freezing by this weekend! YAH!
But the potting soil will STILL be frozen! Boo!

Dereks,

Can you just give a really quick summary here of why winter sowing is so cool? What's the advantage of that versus sowing seeds under lights in the house? I've been starting my seeds in February for years now in my basement with a heating pad and fluorescent lights. I usually raise 150 flowers or so, but sometimes I'm disappointed how slow they grow. I admit I don't fertilize them usually, so maybe that's the problem? :-D

Hey Stevation, I've never grown seeds indoors so I can't say personally which method is better, winter sowing or starting seeds indoors.

It seems to me that growing seeds indoors is so much work. Plants tend to be leggy or they die of damp off. Then you have to acclimate the plants to the outdoors. With winter sowing I just put my seeds into containers and put them into the snow and cold and pretty much forget about them. Of course when the weather warms I have to take care that the seedlings have enough moisture and that the containers don't get too hot in the bright sun. Since the seeds sprout outside I don't have to acclimate them. I've had seeds sprout and then snow on top of them with not one seedling lost. Another reason I like winter sowing is because I don't have the room in the house to set up indoor seed starting.

I encourage you to visit the winter sowing forum and read the FAQs. They explain the method so much better than I can.