Tag: lettuce

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New winter sowing method without the fuss

What if the plastic-milk-jug method of winter sowing isn’t the only way—or even the best way—to get a jump start on the garden year? While other gardeners were cutting up containers and buying potting soil, I tried out a simpler, cheaper approach that might actually work better….

Container winter sowing: Why I was skeptical

Winter sown lettuce seedlingsIf you’ve been hanging out in gardening spaces online in the last few years, you’ve probably seen people glowing about winter sowing. Basically, the principle is that you start seeds outside far earlier than the soil temperature suggests is smart, counting on sprouting happening at the best time for the plants in question.

Most folks winter sow in plastic containers like milk jugs, cut in half so you can use the bottom as a pot filled with store-bought potting soil and the top as a mini greenhouse. I wasn’t interested in that method because of the cost of the soil and the fiddly-ness of the plastic containers. Plus, anything set on top of the earth is going to be chillier than the ground itself for most of the winter, which is a major downside when cold-weather gardening.

On the other hand…

 

Direct ground winter sowing: My experiment

…I’ve been noticing how both kale and lettuce seeds that fall into my wood-chip-mulched aisles due to seed-saving efforts often come up better and faster in early spring than those I start in garden beds after the ground reaches each vegetable’s minimum germination temperature. What if, I wondered, I experimented with my own version of winter sowing by planting lettuce and kale seeds in my usual row-cover-fabric-protected caterpillar tunnels, tweaking my seed starting approach by sowing far earlier than I previously would have risked?

To cut a long story short, I did exactly that on January 30 in our zone 6b garden. We were enjoying a short break from a very cold winter in which multiple weeks have stayed below freezing in the afternoons then dropped into the teens through single-digit negatives (Fahrenheit) at night. The ground was still frozen solid below the top quarter inch, but I scratched seeds into that small thawed area. After a four-day break with more normal temperatures (high of 40!), the cold returned and I forgot all about my experiment.

 

Early seed starting success!

Kale seedlings thriving on winter sowingAnother thaw hit us at the beginning of this week and I opened up the caterpillar tunnels…to find both kale and lettuce seedlings pushing up through the soil!

The seedlings did seem to be doing better where there was more debris on the ground, suggesting that a very light mulch might improve winter-sowing success. But I’m highly impressed to see anything at all after three and a half weeks with such cold temperatures.

What other crops would I recommend winter sowing in this manner? Not peas — they tend to rot in the ground (or get eaten by hungry critters) if you don’t get them up and running fast. And not plants like broccoli, tomatoes, and peppers that need to be raised as inside sets if you want to time the season correctly. But maybe parsley and carrots? I wonder if even fickle spinach and swiss chard might sprout better using this technique?

 

No-cost winter seed starting

This method of winter sowing has a couple of benefits over the more mainstream version. Namely, I didn’t have to buy potting soil or transplant the seedlings after they sprouted.

Meanwhile, my version maintains the winter-sowing advantages of getting a jump on the growing season without requiring the use of grow lights. That’s a definite plus when I have other types of seedlings using up all of my indoor space.

I’ll be expanding my winter sowing experiments next season and updating with more results. Until then, happy growing!

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March in the garden

Back in Virginia, March was a prime spring-planting month. Since moving to Ohio, it’s usually been an impatient-waiting month instead.

Not this year!

Early spring vegetable seedlings

A warm winter means my test beds of early lettuce and peas germinated well, so I soon seeded more.

Last year and this year's broccoli

Meanwhile, in proof of the winter’s extreme mildness, we’re starting to get tiny side heads on overwintering broccoli (protected by row-cover fabric over caterpillar tunnels).

To celebrate, rather than potting up this year’s broccoli seedlings (who are already slightly stunted from outgrowing their soil), I set out half on Monday. That’s a couple of weeks earlier than is recommended for our area, but the ten-day forecast looks good.

Arugula flower buds

Overwintering vegetables from last year (if any survive) are always the first edibles coming out of the garden, and this year we don’t just have the broccoli pictured earlier. Arugula started feeding us even earlier despite a total lack of winter protection for the plants. They started bolting (sending up flower heads) weeks ago. I quickly snipped the bounty, steamed it slightly, then sauteed the steamed flower heads in olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Yum! Those have been good for a meal or two per week for most of March, although they’re starting to come to their end now.

Luckily, kale looks like it will fill the upcoming gap, even though a droughty summer last year meant my plants went into winter on the small side. Hopefully by the time the arugula gets away from me, we’ll have another dependable source of greens to carry us through until the spring lettuce comes in.

Kill mulching garden aisles

Of course, weeds start growing just as soon as vegetables do. The garden beds are usually pretty easy to manage at this time of year — half an hour of yanking fends off long-term problems in our entire plot.

Aisles can be more tricky, but I’ve saved up cardboard all winter to hit the problematic areas. Purple dead nettle and chickweed are easy to yank, while grasses or ground ivy are better off kill mulched. I tend to hit the areas right around the beds I’m using just before planting so weeds can’t encroach on my seedlings. (I’m bound to run out of cardboard before I solve all my problems, which is why they keep coming back.)

Nectarine flowers

March is also the time to count your tree fruits before they hatch. We’re finally back in that mind game, having set out a nectarine a year ago. My produce count for that tree is simple: zero. Not because it bloomed too early (although it likely did) but because I’ll be picking off any young fruits to ensure the tree puts more energy into establishing its roots.

And that’s it for our late March garden. How does yours look?

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Should I plant peas on Valentine’s Day?

(Short answer — probably not.)

But who wants a short answer when you can read an Appalachian anecdote?

Where I grew up, the rule of thumb was to plant lettuce on Groundhog’s Day and peas on Valentine’s Day. Which makes very little scientific sense (even if you ignore the fact that I now live in a different USDA hardiness zone).

After all, what early spring crops are looking for is moist soil that’s not too cold. And February weather is so variable that a date perfect on some years is bound to be terrible on others.

So, yes, I definitely recommend you pull out a soil thermometer rather than planting by the calendar. But there’s also a fun alternative (at least for lettuce).

Wintersowing lettuce

Last year, I meant to collect seeds from my lettuce bed, so I let the plants bolt and bloom. Unfortunately, it rained then stayed wet while the seeds were maturing. Rather than fighting the damp, I shrugged and figured I’d order my lettuce seeds next time around.

But when I went out to take a look at the spot at the end of January, there were already tiny lettuce seedlings poking up out of the earth! A soil thermometer would have given me data on whether the soil was warm enough right at that moment, but those overwintering seeds assure me that the average had been at least 35 degrees Fahrenheit for long enough to tempt overwintering lettuce to sprout.

Peas need about five more degrees of warmth than lettuce, so while I could plant some now I’m going to wait a little longer. (Pea seeds are also very tasty to critters, so unlike lettuce they’re not a good choice for wintersowing.) To soothe my itchy green thumb and commemorate Valentine’s Day, I’ll start a flat of broccoli inside instead.