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Winter Sowing Rosemary Seeds in Zone 6/7
Rosemary is hands-down one of my favorite herbs. There are so many recipes that just wouldn’t be the same without it. However, it wasn’t until I started winter sowing rosemary that I was first able to have some success with the plant. I’m honestly not certain if some herb seeds are notoriously difficult to germinate, or if I seriously do not have a green thumb when it comes to seed starting. I’m thinking it’s the last one… Anyway, the process of winter sowing rosemary is extremely easy. If you’re interested in the actual details of that, you can always check out the videos that I have attached to this post.…
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Winter Sowing Sage in Zone 6/7 – Growing Herbs from Seed
Growing herbs is one of my favorite things about gardening, and winter sowing sage is no different. In the past, I’ve had terrible luck with herbs. As a beginning gardener, I remember planting so many herb seeds. Every single seed tray that I tried was a complete failure. It wasn’t until I discovered the winter sowing method that I had my first delicious taste of success in growing herbs. Sage is no exception. Unlike things like mint, sage seeds are quite large. Even so, the first time I attempted to grow them from seed, I only managed to get one tiny seedling which completely failed to thrive. Fast forward one…
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Winter Sowing Milkweed in Zone 6b/7
Even though I focus a lot on growing cut flowers, every so often, it’s nice to focus on pollinators. While I’ve heard that some people grow milkweed for use in cut flowers, I personally don’t. The actual milkweed plant contains some pretty toxic sap which can cause all kinds of complications if it comes in contact with skin. I’d rather not take any kind of risks for cut flower bouquets, so I grow this solely for the monarch butterflies. While pollinator gardens are exciting for attracting all kinds of beneficial bees and flying things, growing milkweed is great because it serves as a host plant for the monarch butterfly larvae.…
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February Unheated Hoophouse and Garden Update – Flowers in Hoop House
In my last post, I mentioned that the weather here has been absolutely frigid. Well, a couple days have passed and in true crazy weather fashion, our temperatures are now into the 60s. I should mention that that is very warm for this time of year, as our last frost date is usually at the end of April and into May. Nevertheless, let’s take a quick look at the progress and loss in the unheated hoophouse and in the garden. Before getting into the unheated hoophouse, let’s look around outside. First, the drumstick allium bulbs have started to grow. I know that these are the drumstick alliums because of their…
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Bracing for an Arctic Blast in the Home Garden – Cut Flower Farm and Vegetable Garden / Winter Flowers
Over the past week or so, we’ve been getting absolutely blasted with cold weather and freezing temperatures. Up until now, our winter weather had been relatively mild; something which is very common here in my zone 6b/7 garden. That all changed about two weeks ago, however, when the snow began to fall and the nightly lows starting dipping into the single digits. Let’s take a closer look at our winter flowers. With about eight inches of snow headed in my direction, I started the process of “locking down” the hoophouse, covering the plants with row covers, and hoping that everything would survive. Of course, it couldn’t just snow – we…
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What I’m Growing, and When to Winter Sow It – Planning a Vegetable and Cut Flower Garden
If you follow along on my YouTube channel, you already know that I make an intentional effort to show every step of my seed starting process. This means that I intend to show most, if not all, of this year’s winter sowing into the unheated low tunnel. Since I obviously can’t post 30 videos in one day, I publish them one at a time. This sometimes can cause a problem with timing, as some plants can be planted a lot sooner than the date that the video is listed. In this post, I’ll be making an extensive list of the plants that I’ll be winter sowing this year – and…
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January Hardy Annual Flowers and Hoophouse Update – Cut Flower Farm
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Pride, Arrogance, and Superiority in Flower Farming
So, I’ll be the first one to admit it – I never feel like I’ll be that “perfect” person. If you follow any other flower farmers (or a lot of bloggers) online, I think it is likely that you know what I mean. The photos are beautiful, the flowers are beautiful, their skin looks flawless in photos – everything is so carefully edited, curated, and crafted that it makes you hate yourself and want to quit. I’ve been there, a lot. In addition to the artfully out of focus images, even the information is just vague enough to make you think that this person must surely be some kind of…
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Large Scale Winter Sowing Experiment – Starting Flower and Vegetable Seeds Without Grow Lights
A few seasons ago, a brief introduction to the winter sowing method completely changed the way I garden. Without the need for grow lights or fancy seed starting setups, it is truly a way for those of us with tiny garden budgets to grow something that is absolutely amazing. The options when using the winter sowing method are limitless – you can start both vegetable and flower seeds with ease. This method is especially useful when attempting to grow some perennial flowers and herbs from seed (which may be difficult to germinate). Seeds are naturally stratified when needed, there’s no need to fuss about hardening off the seedlings before transplant…
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Continuing the Winter Sowing Method – More Plantings for the Low Tunnel
Since my last post, my winter sowing has moved into full swing. This time of year, the process of starting all my flower seeds is such an exciting one. On one hand, I’m super eager to watch things start to grow. On the other, I’m always worried that absolutely nothing will grow and that things will be a complete failure. I guess that’s just my personality – either everything is great or everything is awful. Lol. Today, I’m winter sowing some plants that I absolutely know will be successful. First to sow is bachelor’s buttons. I was able to find a packet of tall red bachelor’s buttons for just .99…
