It doesn't matter who I've talked to lately around here, this winter has been a hard one. We have been spoiled with mild winters for so many years. Not so this year. To me it seemed that if it wasn't snowing or bitter cold, the wind was blowing 100+km/hr. I have never spent so much consecutive time indoors as I have this winter and it has taken its toll. For someone with an unfortunate natural bent for melancholy, this hasn't been good. However, I have been fighting back and that feels really good. Yesterday, being March 1, and it coming in like a cold, grumpy lion, I decided to start my gardening and started all my herb seeds.
I've been saving containers for a while. For starting seeds I particularly like containers with black bottoms and clear covers - especially if they're domed. The black bottoms retain heat and the domed, fitted covers keep the moisture in so you don't have to water but one time, plus they allow a bit of growing. The rotisserie chicken you can get at most grocery stores comes in perfect containers! I've recently discovered that if you buy an angel food cake it comes in a good container, too. I've got a bunch of home grown chickens in my freezer and know how to make an angel food - but for the sake of my seeds, I've cheated a lot this winter!
Once I plant my seeds, water and cover the containers, I put them in my sunroom. Despite the frigid looking outdoors, when the sun shines, my sun room gets hot! It's a great spot for starting seeds. The down side is that the windows are old and leaky, so when it cools off outside at night, the room cools off, too. My hope is that it just makes my plants tougher - they need to be around here.
It doesn't take long for the containers to warm up like a mini-greenhouse and fog up. They fog up and get water droplets on the top that fall and continuously water the soil beneath. It's a perfect little system. A morning of planting and my winter blues have been chased away.
I've been saving containers for a while. For starting seeds I particularly like containers with black bottoms and clear covers - especially if they're domed. The black bottoms retain heat and the domed, fitted covers keep the moisture in so you don't have to water but one time, plus they allow a bit of growing. The rotisserie chicken you can get at most grocery stores comes in perfect containers! I've recently discovered that if you buy an angel food cake it comes in a good container, too. I've got a bunch of home grown chickens in my freezer and know how to make an angel food - but for the sake of my seeds, I've cheated a lot this winter! 
Once I plant my seeds, water and cover the containers, I put them in my sunroom. Despite the frigid looking outdoors, when the sun shines, my sun room gets hot! It's a great spot for starting seeds. The down side is that the windows are old and leaky, so when it cools off outside at night, the room cools off, too. My hope is that it just makes my plants tougher - they need to be around here.
It doesn't take long for the containers to warm up like a mini-greenhouse and fog up. They fog up and get water droplets on the top that fall and continuously water the soil beneath. It's a perfect little system. A morning of planting and my winter blues have been chased away.
1 comment:
Your post is inspiring! I have seeds on the way, and will need to start them just as soon as they arrive. I've never had great luck with starting seedlings indoors; I think we keep our house too cool to keep the electric bill down. Will have to see what I can improvise, 'cause I won't be buying rotisserie chicken and angelfood cake in order to have containers!
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