2026, My year of Garden Narcissism

[ducks4you]

They will be, I think, since we all spend a LOT of time opening up our refridgerators--hard to miss them there.
BTW, the clear plastic saucers Were, last year, $1/4 saucers at Dollar General.

 

[ducks4you]

Working on my winter sowing. I have sown 11 bottles as of this morning, the smaller bottles have 2 Alaska Snow Peas in them, the larger bottle has 4. I cut the top off of it. I tested putting the top back on--won't do that again.
This plastic is too fragile and I got a dent in the bottom half putting it on the 2nd time, so I put a piece of masking tape on it to keep in the greenhouse affect. These 3 will go out next time I...go out, since they will join the others in the window well closest to the stairs.
I have been playing at winter/bottle sowing for a couple of years now. In MY climate it is best to leave the cap on. One of my jars last year totally dried out the seedlings, which were about 5 inches tall, bc I had removed the cap. MY advice is, IF you feel like removing the bottle cap(s) save in a labeled ziplock bag in your kitchen gardening area. The caps are Not universal.

 

[ducks4you]

Your containers need NOT be clear--opaque, like a Mountain Dew bottle works just fine. The bottle creates a greenhouse/terrarium, there is enough moisture next to the seeds bc of the drainage holes on the bottom, moisture evaporates and then rewaters them, and they sprout ONLY when there are enough light candles and day length for the seed. You set and forget.
MY decision to put them into window wells is from the notion that a strong March wind WILL carry off a milk jug half full of wet soil. My 3 south facing window wells are about 12 inches deep, more or less, lined with stones and, so far, the worst winds haven't dislodged my bottles. Here is an article about winter sowing. There are PLENTY of them out there. I suggest you only read those by established gardeners, even though This one is late to the winter sowing party.
I disagree with their suggestions of top venting.
I left lids off of several jugs last winter, and I had to add water. The others With their lids did fine without any extra babysitting. The outside sow date in my area is mid April and they will be doing Some drying out for a couple of months.
Yes, I Will be putting jugs/saved carry out containers in the window well that is west facing AND in the 3 window wells that are north facing. Not sure yet what I will put there, but I will post about it when it happens.

Winter Sowing | A Simple Way to Start Seeds Outdoors | joegardener®

Winter Sowing may be the simplest way to start seeds outdoors. It's a hands-off, low-tech, high return way to get the most out of your seed-starting efforts

joegardener.com

The Ultimate Beginner Guide to Winter Sowing

Learn all you need to know for a successful start to winter sowing in this guide for beginners!

www.botanicalinterests.com

 

[ducks4you]

Eldest DD had a bug and was drinking ginger ale and gatorade, so I picked up 3 more bottles for winter sowing. Not the best idea to leave the plastic ID labels on these bottles. For soda they are only about 3 inches wide, for Gatorade they almost fill the side of the bottle. I recommend using your razor (the one you are using to cut drainage holes) and pull up the label from the bottom of the bottle, then peel it off. IMHO the more light to the seeds, the better.
I decided that the smaller bottles, soda and water could handle 2 peas, and I filled up the waist with soil, saturated the soil and drained, then tipped 12 o'clock, then 6 o'clock to put them as far away as possible. I believe that the packaging said to direct sow peas 2 inches apart. I adjusted for the two larger bottles.
Alaska Snow Peas:
12 bottles, 2 peas each + 1 bottle, 3 peas + 1 bottle, 4 peas = 31 peas
Let's see how many sprout...
I will now switch to Sugar Snap Peas for sowing, and I have some distilled water jugs ready to use for those. About to feed ponies, so I intend to pick up small sticks in the lawn and put them by these seeds to give them each an anchor.

 

[ducks4you]

7 Vegetables to Start From Seed in February

Learn which vegetables you can start from seed in February!

modernfarmer.com

 

[digitS']

I picked up 3 more bottles for winter sowing. Not the best idea ...

Checking on "What's new," it stopped there and I thought you might then say, '' ... to use bottles from someone who has 'the bug.'" Uh oh, she has a cold, too!

Good to see that this isn't so . I hope your daughter feels better soon.

Steve