Winter sown garden

Winter-sown gardens can be a solution for when you miss your garden and even for getting your seedlings a bit of a jump start for the spring season. It is a great project for little ones to help teach the life cycle of a plant.

Winter Sown Garden Supplies:

1. Clear gallon jug (we used 64 oz juice containers)

2. Drill with a drill bit

3. Razor knife

4. Soil

5. Water

6. Seeds

7. Duct tape

8. Magic marker

Step by Step process:

Step 1:

Sanitize your clear plastic jugs with a 9:1 ratio of water to bleach.

Step 2:

Cut the top half of the jug leaving about 2 inches attached.

Step 3:

Using the drill, make holes in the bottom of the jug for drainage.

Step 4:

Moisten the potting mix you have chosen to use. Fill the bottom part of the jug with soil. I used a potting mix because I will not be transplanting, and the seedlings will need the added nutrients when they start to develop their first leaves.

Step 5:

Select the seeds you desire to grow. Make sure you are using cool-season seeds because the warm-season seeds will not germinate.

Step 6:

Cover the top portion of the jug and tape them together, leaving the lid off for ventilation. Label the jug with a sharpie to keep track of what you have planted.

Step 7:

Place in a south-facing location and water when necessary.

We have a greenhouse which I start growing out of starting in February, but this is a great way if you do not have a greenhouse or are space challenged.

This is a project we love doing in our homeschool, and it is also a way for me to keep my hands in the soil and plant in the winter when nothing really wants to grow. See our full video as I garden with my girls and create these winter sown gardens.