Recently I was sorting out my seed stash in anticipation of placing a seed order for this spring. I came across some envelopes of poppy seeds that a fellow gardener club member collected and distributed at our last "in person" meeting several months ago. Since I love poppies, but have never had much luck getting them to grow, I engaged in a bit of research to determine how best to plant these gifted seeds. As I was doing my research I discovered a method called, "winter sowing".
Winter sowing is a method of planting seeds outdoors in winter! Wow! How exciting to actually participate in a gardening activity when the snow is flying. It is generally done with seeds that require cold stratification. Poppies are one of those seeds, but so are many others and the list is long. The most popular method of doing this is planting seeds in plastic jugs/containers and setting them out during the winter. The narrow openings of water jugs and pop bottles collect moisture but keep out critters and protect the planted seed and encourages growth when the weather warms up. It's kind of like a little green house! How cool is that?
The Internet is a Wonderful Thing!
So, my research led to a gazillion sites about winter sowing and I learned a lot. However, experience will be the ultimate test.
With all my materials and equipment in place, I spent several hours during a nasty weekend storm planting my "winter garden". It will be interesting to see how it turns out. But ultimately, I had a productive day when my housebound options were few.
Going through my seed stash to see what I could grow.
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