This is the time of year I really start driving my husband crazy. I do it by collecting milk jugs. Huh? That right, I start collecting milk jugs right after New Years so that I can do my gardening. What? Remember I live just a bit north of Minneapolis, MN in zone 4b. We have about 12 to 16 inches of snow on the ground right about now. I am not cray cray, I am winter sowing. Last year I did 104 containers of vegetables, perennials and hardy annuals. You can do the opaque milk jugs, large soda bottles, plastic fast food container, or cottage cheese tubs with clear or opaque lids. I also used tin roasters from the dollars store, in the above picture you can see them. The tins started with plastic lids but due to a late spring snow storm that dumped us with about a foot of heavy snow they didn't last and I ended up putting the roaster tins in plastic bags. I did my tins two different ways as well, one I just put the dirt in it and plant, the other I took small Styrofoam coffee cups and made individual plantings. Well just putting the dirt in the tin pan worked out way better than the Styrofoam cups did. Which leads me to my best advice for those thinking about trying this method of jump starting their spring. Use the KISS technique when Winter Sowing, that is Keep it Simple Stupid. I put way to much thought and energy into some of these containers only to find the ones where I kept it simple did the best. At the end of this article I will post a link to the WinterSown website, where they have some great tutorials on how to winter sow.
There just one more additional caution I'd like to express here. This can be an addictive hobby and it can easily get out of control. Please note below is a picture of my drive way this past spring. Sixty gallon milk jugs and then additional forty or so assorted containers, for a whopping 104 containers in my driveway. In my best Jeff Foxworthy voice "You might be a gardener if you start digging in your neighbor's recycle bins for milk jugs. You might be a gardener if your driveway in the spring looks like you had a Milk party last night." Please feel free to add more "you might be a gardener one liners in the comments below. Helpful links for those looking to get into WinterSowing WinterSowing Web site - http://www.wintersown.org/
WinterSower Facebook Page - https://www.facebook.com/groups/102675420505/
Article from Minnesota Horticultural Society on Winter Sowing -http://blog.northerngardener.org/day-14-winter-sowing-for-your-vegetable-garden/
and best of all - Plant list for Winter Sowing - http://www.wintersown.org/wseo1/Seed_Lists.html
