Sunday, April 22, 2012
Wintersowing Update
Ever since I tried wintersowing last year, I have been a convert. It is by far the easiest way to sow seeds, all you need to do is to plant the seeds in soil in a juice or milk jug container, and leave it outdoors all winter long. That's it. The process of freezing and unfreezing softens the seed shell, and then when it's warm enough, the seeds will germinate. You literally let mother nature takes it's course. This year, I wintersowed a whole bunch of heirloom tomato seeds. I knew tomato seeds would do well wintersown because last year, there were lots of volunteer tomato plants in the garden. Yesterday, I saw that one of the tomato plants is doing really well in the juice container "greenhouse".
Look how healthy it is! Wintersowing rocks! Here's the thing though. I made these plastic DIY plant tags out of milk jugs, and wrote on permanent marker what type of tomato plant this was. However, the marker completely wiped off from the rain, snow, and the elements. So I have no idea what variety tomato this is now. Bummer! I'll have to wait to see what type it is when it's fully mature. Ugh, the wait!
Today, I received an email from one of my favorite stores, Brooklyn Industries. As part of a celebration for Earth day, they participated in some earth friendly projects. One of the projects they did to celebrate Earth day was a seed dress made with seeds embedded into the dress. So you can "bury the dress" and watch it grow.
Another project that they participated in was this Seedbomb bracelet. Which is a bracelet decorated with seedbombs. So you can wear it, and when you see an open lot that you want to seed bomb, just take off the bracelet and throw it into the lot. Cool right?? I so want to buy these! Lastly, they also have bags made out of recycled coffee burlap bags. I love the idea of recycling burlap to use as tote bags! What did you do to celebrate Earth day?
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Wow it does look great!!!
ReplyDeleteI have never wintersown any veggies. I really should give it a try.
ReplyDeleteHopefully, you wrote down what you planted and when they bear fruit....you can figure out what is what!
for marking containers, i have found a wax pencil (the kind with a string you pull down to unwind the layers to expose more "lead") to be permanent. they are available in art supply stores, also called a "china pencil".
ReplyDeletei just have to remember to mark top & bottom of my container,since i often cut off the top later in the season.
I've never tried wintersowing seeds but I"m glad your experiment is working!! Bummers on waiting to find out what type of tomato though. =0)
ReplyDeleteMeems -- I've struggled with garden markers, too. Sharpies just don't last. The best thing I've found are China markers or grease pencils, dunno exactly what they are called. On painted wood, under a sprinkler, it stays on. Probably would work on raw wood, too, if you can find a cabinet maker with scraps he'll give you.
ReplyDeleteI love your blog, the tomato looks great. I mark the bottom of my containers with duct tape and the variety writen on the duct tape with an industrial strength sharpie. Under the container the sharpie ink stays intact and doesn't fade from sunlight. To check what's in the container is easy enough. Just raise it above your eyes and read what it is.
ReplyDeleteTrudi Davidoff