(cozy!)---
I've had these big honking storage bins for years. Yes, they are plastic. No, I don't buy plastic storage bins anymore. But year after year, I keep finding uses for them. And this year, I've turned them into winter sowing greenhouses. In this little greenhouse are most of my cold crops, and as an experiment, a few herb hot crops. I was inspired by my e-friend Kateri over at Dandelion Haven. She had a great post about winter sowing and I really wanted to try it. It took me a while to figure it out since I don't have any actual terra firma of my own to work with. So this upside-down bin, with the lid as the tray, was my hybrid solution. (Because the bins are not greenhouse-size they don't get super warm, but they have certainly kept the soil from freezing.)
So far, only the Lacinato kale has come up- it looks very hardy and perfectly happy. The real trial will be the sweet basil and the tulsi, but I'm also starting these two dears indoors on an electric seedling mat with my other hot crops, just in case. I expect that my curcubits and melons and beans will do just fine. And I must say, this winter sowing stuff certainly appeals to my secret, latent lazy streak. These winter-sown puppies will not need hardening off- and hardening off is always a pain in the butt, what with all that carting indoors and outdoors; an hour one day, two hours the next, three hours the following. Winter sowing might be a neat new trick.
So far, only the Lacinato kale has come up- it looks very hardy and perfectly happy. The real trial will be the sweet basil and the tulsi, but I'm also starting these two dears indoors on an electric seedling mat with my other hot crops, just in case. I expect that my curcubits and melons and beans will do just fine. And I must say, this winter sowing stuff certainly appeals to my secret, latent lazy streak. These winter-sown puppies will not need hardening off- and hardening off is always a pain in the butt, what with all that carting indoors and outdoors; an hour one day, two hours the next, three hours the following. Winter sowing might be a neat new trick.
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