Come on, People, We're Burning Daylight!

It's time,  yes, it's time---for what?   LET'S GET DIRTY!!!! I swear my blood pressure crashed 20 points while I was outside mucking around in the dirt (soil) today...  "but, Dianne,"  I can hear you thinking,,,"it's only February 1,, what on God's blessed Earth are you doing?"

"I'm gardening!  I'm outside. I'm breathing fresh air.  I'm digging in soil.   I'm planting seeds.   I'm getting the whole growing season started!"

How? It's called winter sowing.. I started by saving or buying or bugging Brad Thada for seeds of native plants and vegetable seeds. Brad Thada is a young man who works for Cardno, an environmental company that gave away native flower seeds at our state meeting of the Indiana Native Plant and Wildflower Society.  I also knew him as a little boy at Pleasant Hill School, so I hit him up for more packets.  They are planted and ready to grow. 


Watch what I did... not terrible difficult, but does involve using  a sharp knife, so I had to watch myself.  First of all, dig out gallon milk containers from your recycle bin, or wander down the street nonchalantly, gathering them from the neighbors' bins...  whistle and dance a bit,  people will think you are slightly crazy and will let you go along your way. 

Then, cut your container around the middle  leaving a bit  under the handle  to hold the container together.. Make sure you also poke holes in the bottom for drainage.  You do not need to keep the cap on,  leave it off to provide fresh air. 

Okay, that wasn't hard.  Then put some moistened seed starting soil mix in the bottom of the container.   Plant seeds in the soil mix, and then duct tape the top of the container to the bottom.   Voila!   A tiny greenhouse that should work well for starting native seeds that need stratifying.  What does that mean?  Well,  I need to replicate the growing conditions the seed would endure in the wild.  So,  moisture, heat, cold, freeze, thaw, over and over.  This breaks open the hard seed coat on many native plants and lets them survive winter in Indiana.

Sorry for all that shiny sunshine on my photo, but, please, people, work with me here. No complaints about sunshine today.   So I marked each container with a wax pencil with the plant name and date of planting.  I placed the containers in front of the house, where they will get the most daylight in the next few weeks.  I also used some half-gallon containers, placed on a long side, and a take-out container.   I also sowed some milkweed and Zizia  aurea (Golden Alexander)  in some long flower pots.  Since they are both natives, I'm trying out sowing them openly in a spot I can control.  I have a few more containers to fill later in the week.. I have to dig out all the seeds that are wintering in the pantry.

Has anyone else noticed new growth on evergreens?  I have some in front of the house that look as if they are not dormant.. hmmmm,  I hope we don't get any prolonged cold soon, or they could be in trouble.

So planted today,, Feb. 1, 2016:

Purple Coneflowers,,, Native Flower mix,  Zizia Aurea,  Common milkweed, Butterfly weed (small orange milkweed).   

I also have a mostly empty flower pot into which I threw several handfuls of common milkweed pods.  I have left them outside all winter, and I'm waiting for spring to see if I get any growth.  I learned this from my Monarch Maniac friend, Reni Winter-Evans ,   She has a great FB page here, 
https://www.facebook.com/winterhaven.wildflowers  with great pictures of growing monarchs on milkweed.

I am going to start some more things as spring approaches.  If you want to try this,  throw in some lettuce, radishes,  broccoli,  or  lettuce mixes.   All of these  are cool weather crops and won't be hurt by a few cold nights.  I have seen pictures of containers covered in snow that were full of green plants.  Check out Pinterest for "winter sowing" if you want to see some more examples.  I may even try some tomatoes in a month.  What will you be out?  A packet of seeds, some tape, and a recyclable container.   Give it a go!  I'll keep you updated on how my first batch goes. 

Yes, the greenhouse got built, it's air tight, it's wonderful, but it doesn't have heat for nighttime yet, so I'm waiting to start anything out there yet, until I can get a long extension cord and heater out there.

Winter garden UP!!

Dianne