I've been watching a lot of videos on you tube that show how to sow vegetable seeds in the middle of winter. They are sown in milk cartons and pop bottles and then left outside through the cold, rain and snow to just get on with it. The concept being that they won't start to grow until the temperatures are ok. This morning I went through my seeds to see what could be sown in January and February under glass. Then I set to and sowed some into milk jugs which had been half filled with compost. I've stood the bottles at the bottom of my garden where the sun shines from first thing in the morning until it sinks at about four in the afternoon. Now I just need to leave them alone to do their own thing. If this does in fact work the seedlings won't need hardening off. I should be able to just plant them straight into the garden as soon as the worse part of the winter has gone. Of course this is just an experiment with some compost and a few pinches of seed so I don't have a lot to lose. If it works it will open up a whole new way of planting for me and I won't need to bother investing in some grow lights. I'll do an update each month so that I can keep a record of what (if anything) works.
I have numbered each bottle and pierced drainage holes in the bottom. In my diary I have written what is in each numbered bottle. It will be interesting to see if this works
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| I'll cover them with fleece if a hard frost is forecast |
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| Bouquet of fresh picked greens for tonight's tea. |
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| The potting shed has had all the finishing touches added |
Hello Cherie, this is a great idea. I am going to give it a go too. We get through plenty of milk in this house, with all the tea drinking! There used to be a lady at my local carboot sale that sold beautiful pelargoniums in milk cartons, she said she didn't have a greenhouse and did them from cuttings. The numbering system is a good idea too, as my kids move the little labels about!!! Lulu x
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