Who Is Anastasia?

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New Castle, Indiana Zone 5, United States
When I was 55, I decided to embrace the things I love and hold precious and dear, regardless of anyone else's thoughts and opinion. I am a visual folk artist who loves flowers - my own flowers, grown and/or painted by me. I love good, hearty, exotic foods, and I love to prepare them myself. I love the secret garden situated in my backyard, regardless of how overgrown and wild it gets. No longer able to afford a vacation, this will have to be it for the time being. In the winter months, I still enjoy it. Anyway, here I am sharing my art, favorite recipes, cocktails, gardening tips, and just my usual vents and bantering. After all, I'm old enough to say whatever the heck I want to now ...

JEWELS OF MY SOUL

JEWELS OF MY SOUL
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August 23, 2009

Winter Sowing - My Secret Passion


Several years ago, I discovered a process called winter sowing, wherein you actually plant seeds (winter soltice is a popular day), outside in the snow, in little containers - anything from milk jugs, foil carry out containers, margarine tubs, etc., and you get the most incredible strong, sturdy and lush plants in the Spring. The thing is, like anything in nature, it is hit and miss; sometimes they work, often they do not. Most of my rugosa roses were sown this way, as were a lot of my perennials.

That darn Butter n' Eggs is still strangling everything in my old rose bed, and I'm ticked off about that ... sorry to vent

Anyway, click on the link above, and it tells how to do this. You can also do some vegetables this way.

The thing is, you save tons of money on plants - no need to pay for seedlings/plants; this helps relieve your mid-winter gardening itch; and in the Spring, you're ahead of the game.

Whatever you do, DO NOT BRING THESE CONTAINERS INSIDE, REGARDLESS HOW COLD, HOW MUCH SNOW, HOW MUCH ICE OR WIND YOU GET! The process is a hardening off thingee - my technical term - but, you will be amazed at the results. Rule of thumb; perennials true to your zone will work; annuals that reseed in your area will work. Annuals, are often not sown until the end of Feb. or early March.

The photo above is NOT mine, it belongs to Kasmira, of cinticapecod.blogspot.com/2007_03_01_archive.html Please check out her Cincinnati-Cape Cod Blog - It's delightful!

2 comments:

  1. I enjoyed this post! I am getting ready to winter some things and harden them off too...good luck lady bug!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Will this work for vegetables in zone 7?? It does freez here at night eventually...

    ReplyDelete

I would love to hear from you regarding this post. Please feel free to leave your comments. All the best, Anastasia a/k/a Stacey

The Backyard --Today's Vacation Spot

The Backyard --Today's Vacation Spot
A simple garden meal in the shade. No, it's not my backyard, but it looks identical to the one I grew up with at our home in Queens. Looking for an original pic of it to post soon!

Old Fashioned Tips