A comprehensive guide to winter sowing

Honestly this is just the perfect time to do winter sowing, it does't take long to do, its pretty cost effective and it frees up space for other seeds under the grow lights.

To start off what you will need is the following:

- seeds (perennials, or hardy greens, like spinach, lettuce, broccoli...)

- soil ( a good seed started mix ideally, but a good triple mix will do!)

- plastic container ( milk jug, tupperware, large water bottle)

- something to cut holes in the plastic ( knife, sizer's, nail ect)

- tape

- pen

What you want to do if find a good plastic container, that is see through, so enough light can get into the container. We have milk jugs here in Nova Scotia, but at least at our local grocery stores, the ones we get are milk in colour, so the light will not be able to penetrate it properly. So we had old large water jugs, which work perfect.

So what you want to do is cut the bottle in half. You can leave a small part still attached so you will have a leaver. You also will want to put drainage holes in the bottom of the container and top if you container does not have an open lid (like a water jug). This allows for moisture to escape from the bottom and allow water to get in. Now is your time to put in moist soil, about three to four inches high. Its now time for your seed of choice, which you can sprinkle on-top and lightly cover. At this point you want to tape the top half of the bottle back to the bottom or put your container's lid on.

Just like that and your done! Its pretty simple, just remember to label the container with what you planted in there. My toddler, did the majority of the work and had a lot of fun filling up with soil and filling up the watering can. Its a great little project for little ones and helps you get a jump start on your seeds for the fast approaching season. Just place the containers outside in a sunny location, and remember to check on it once in a while to make sure the soil is moist.

As the weather warms up, you can thin the seedlings depending on your seed requirements and then they should be ready to plant directly into your garden!