I love dill. I use it in dips and my pickles and use it as a companion plant for my cukes. I decided to germinate a few seeds inside and a few using the winter sowing method. The dill in the top photo was germinated inside and the bottom outside. Quite a difference wouldn't you say. I was expecting the seeds sown under grow lights to be leggy. As you can see the end result was the opposite. I'll see how they perform in the garden.
This is Mammoth, which is an heirloom variety. One of my plants reseeded last season. We'll see if I have another this season. I used this variety in my pickles last year and dried some for my dip. It performs wells and tastes great. I'm hoping the winter sown dill will survive and become stronger. I checked the garden this evening, and both plants seem to be doing well.
Do you grow or use dill? What variety do you grow? I'm hoping to add more herbs to my garden next season. I do plant basil as a companion to my tomatoes. I planted Spicy Globe and Genovese this year. What herbs do you have growing? Do you companion plant?
This is what I woke up to this morning! Spring is under there somewhere, I'm still waiting for it to emerge. These are containers that I winter sowed. If snow is suppose to good for them, I have happy seeds today.
I mulched my garden with leaves throughout the winter, so I left up my fence to contain the leaves. I had planned to take it down this week-end and get it ready for tilling. As you can see that didn't happen. I'm going to expand it 3 - 4 feet to the right this season. I want to make my paths a little wider, so it will be easier to get through. I like to take my grandson in to pick veggies, and the paths are little to narrow for him. I also want to add an area for garlic and onions and a few more tomatoes. I planted 8 tomato plants last season, I plan to add 2 more this year. My salsa was so good, I want to make sure I have lots of tomatoes.
I'm trying a few new varieties this year, Tiffen Mennonite, Delicious and Homestead. I haven't met a garden tomato yet that I didn't like.
The bird bath and feeder are snow covered. I've seen tons of birds in the backyard. I have no idea what they are. This week I'll be spending time making homemade feeders for them. Stay tuned for that post. Years ago, I didn't even notice them unless they were making a mess on my car, sidewalk or deck. Now, I'm curious about my feathered friends. I'm going to invest in a camera with a nice lens so I can start taking photos of them. Do you feed the birds? Do you know the different species? I'm familiar with the cardinal since it is our state bird, robins, woodpeckers, wrens and humming birds. Otherwise, I have alot of studying to do on various species. Maybe I'll put a "Species" book on my Christmas list this year.
Although spring is around the corner, my winter sowing continues. I wasn't sure if I was going to add more containers since this was the first season that I've tried this method, but I saw sprouts from my first containers and decided to move on. Seeing those little sprouts of green was just the motivations that I needed. I have 30 containers sowed. Here's the status:
Germinated:
Sunflowers - Lemon Queen
Sunflowers - Velvet Queen
Dill - Long Island Mammoth
Dahlias
Petunias - Mixed
Sowed but no germination:
Cherokee Purple
Homestead
Delicious
Germaine Johnson
Paul Robeson
Brandywine - Pink
Hillbilly
Squash
Zucchini
Added this week:
Lettuce - Green Salad Bowl
Spinach - Giant Noble
Greenbeans - Blue Lake (Bush & Pole)
Greenbeans - Jade (Bush)
Greenbeans - Gourmet
Sunflowers - Mexican
Sunflowers - Evening Sun
Snap Dragons - Mixed
Calendula - Mixed
Anyone else winter sowing? How are things going for you? See Part I of my winter sowing endeavor here.
I have the winter blues! I decided to start my vegetable seeds over the week-end. Planning my garden takes the blues away. This year, I decided to try winter sowing. I've been saving plastic liter, juice and milk bottles. Anything that I can cut and punch holes in the bottom for drainage. I started about 20 bottles over the week-end. Tomatoes, dill, zuchinni, squash, sunflowers and petunias. Tomatoes, dill and petunias reseed, so hopefully I will have a successful germination rate. Research showed that the squash and zuchinni will also do well. l will continue winter sowing through-out February. I'll start a few tomatoes, cukes and greenbeans inside to ensure I have something to plant. I set these bottles outside my kitchen door, but will eventually move them to my picnic table. It had just started snowing, so they received a nice coating.
Stay tuned for additional posts. If you are a gardener and use the winter sowing method, please share your experience.
