Wintersown Seeds Update- General Seeds

   The seeds have arrived!!! I am not going to lie- it was like a lil Christmas present for me. I didn't expect them to arrive until after the holidays so when we checked the mail (Christmas Eve)- nestled among a few bills, some Christmas cards, and junk mail were my two envelopes.

 


   I am going to do the general seeds envelope first and the tomato one in another post. The biggest item in the envelope was a small brochure explaining how to wintersow seeds. I only took a front picture of it b/c it is copyrighted and I don't want to reproduce it. It doesn't seem too difficult. There is a lot of info on the internet about it, and once I get my supplies together and wintersow I will post how we did it. In a nutshell you get a container that is either see through or has a see through lid and sow your seeds. Then you sit them out to grow over winter. Apparently this makes hardy seedlings that you don't have to harden off, and saves you time in the Spring. It mimics what happens already in nature- seed drops and hardens over winter then when the weather is nice it germinates. Easy peasy I guess... at least I hope ours will be successful.

On to the seeds:

     They say on the website that the general one has a variety of seeds sent depending on what is available at the time. This makes sense as they are supported by donated seeds and money. So if you have extra seeds you want to give over feel free to donate to them (I sure plan on doing it later). There is information on how to donate seeds on their website. Since I ordered some for my mom at the same time (she received hers yesterday) we got mostly the same seed with the exception of two (I don't remember which ones now). We ended up with 9 different types of seeds, which is pretty nice and generous I think. It was a variety of flowers (mostly), veggies and one herb. Remember though it varies depending on what they have at the time so you never know- which is part of the fun of it I think.


 Ok, I promise I am getting to the seeds here they are:


Flowers:


Tickseed- (I have never heard of this)- It is a yellow wildflower with summer blooms. I think it is neat that they give directions for the wintersowing depth, when it germinates, when to transplant, what type of conditions it prefers to grow in and if it reseeds.





Black Eyed Susan- A lot of people have these around here in TN, but for those of you who don't know it looks kind of like a yellow daisy (at least that's what I called them when I was young- we even played he loves me he loves me not with them as a child).






Autumn Beauty Sunflower-  As you can see the packet doesn't have a pic, but I think we all know what a sunflower looks like. It does say it is a fast growing plant with huge blooms. I am excited since E is all about sunflowers.





Wildflower blend for full sun- Yeah a surprise!! I like surprises and think it will be fun to see what comes of the blend.








Pansy- (Burpee)- I love pansies and don't have any planted so I am excited about it. I think this is one my mother and I got different seeds for - if I am thinking correctly she got peonies. I simply can't remember the other one that was different.







Vegetables:


Leaf Lettuce Blend- we always plant some leaf lettuce since it germinates quickly and E likes results. Having a blend will be nice for salads.






Detroit Dark Red Beets- I love beets, but already have some to plant (in fact I probably have more than I need). I don't plant too many b/c I am the only one who likes them besides my grandma. I may ask her if she wants mine and my moms since she usually cans some beets every couple of years and I don't think she did this year. While there is not a ton it might help out a little.



Potato Leaf Type Tomato- I didn't know there was a tomato that has potato like leaves, but it said it grows sweet, pink fruits that can weigh over a pound. Since I got a wide range of tomatoes I don't know if I will plant these or not. I think mom, grandma and I are going to get together once grandma gets hers (I haven't sent hers yet, but think I will get her tomatoes so we can all swap and trade them for what each wants) and decide who will plant what tomato.



Herbs:

Parsley- I should have said herb singular I guess. I have had good luck with parsley every year.  In fact I left the parsley plant in the ground this fall and here it is Christmas time and it is still alive. We'd had plenty of freezing days and one or two very light snows, and I thought for sure it would die out by now but it just keeps coming back.




My conclusion on wintersown so far is that they are exactly what they say they are. They send a small amount of seeds, but enough for a small home garden to get started. If you are going to have a huge garden not so much. I like that they give ample instructions for trying to germinate over winter, as well as planting instructions for each plant.


Now all that is left is to save up milk containers (I had some but E planted his mini winter garden in it- more on that in the future-I'm waiting till they grow a lil more to snap some pics). So, I've got to save up some more, and get some planting soil.

P.S. I know I've used I instead of we a lot this post, but E is at his dad's and didn't really get to look through the seeds- that will have to wait until he comes back from winter break daddy time. :)


THANKS WINTERSOWN!!!!! Hopefully I can learn to save seeds and send some back- if I flop at it I plan to send a $$ donation - we'll just have to see. We'll update when we get our supplies saved up and sow the seeds.Wish us luck!