I don't really have many problems with germination. For Lettuce, I sprinkled on the surface of the soil, and just patted it down a bit so it doesn't fly everywhere from rain or wind. For spinach, I put it down, take tiny clumps of soil and sprinkle it over just until I can't see it anymore. Same thing with peas, I planted lots, covered it enough so rain wouldn't wash it away... and over 40 have germinated so far. This has been a very cool year so far. The hottest it has reached is just around 75 F or so. It's on average 60-70 F each day, so it's not that hot yet.

Thanks everyone. Guess I'll be popping those seeds into some little starter pots and put them in some shade on the deck today! Angela, thanks for that link, great resource. I think we have time, we're not off by too far if we do it now! I got the last pack of BS seeds at Lowe's yesterday so apparently everyone else around had that info! ;-). They didn't have rutabaga seeds which is the other thing I want to grow, but I have to go to a specialty nursery here to get those. It was funny, I asked the guy how many seeds he had (as in "do I have to rush down there?" and he said, "don't worry, you may be the only person in Wake County who plants rutabaga" and laughed. This will be my first attempt with rutabaga, so any tips on that will also be appreciated! I heard it's easy to grow. I just couldn't imagine planting cool weather plant seeds in this heat, but planting in the shade/sun and then transplanting makes sense! (Already looking forward to Thanksgiving dinner with BS and rutabaga :-)

Newbie, not knowing what you have sown, a broad answer is that most seeds need water, oxygen, and proper temperature in order to germinate. Some seeds require light too but not all - a lot of seeds are fine covered after sowing - at the right depth - and your seed packet will tell you which need to be surface sown, which seeds will benefit from some light. There is only a certain amount of energy contained in the seed for germinating, pushing up through the soil (or sowing medium) towards light. Planting seeds too deeply could cause them to use all of their stored energy before reaching the soil surface, buried under your mulch for a month and kept damp, some could have germinated and died. I'm having trouble picturing how you could remove mulch and find your seed. If it were my garden, I would pull back the mulch where I want plants to grow, sow new seed, then push the mulch back again (up to but not over the crowns of the seedlings) when plants are up and growing. I don't think anyone is necessarily born knowing how to garden, we all make mistakes along the way. Keep asking questions and enjoy yourself, enjoy the learning process. If on your sign in line where your user name is - you could add your gardening zone or State, it would be helpful in answering future questions. We could be more specific to needs in your particular climate then - see my own, Z8 WA coast

I'm putting a link below to the wintersowing forum faq page. It is a slow time of year there, but many of us still check in occasionally. Regarding wind blown containers... normally it is not a problem for me even here by the windy city. If the containers are on the ground tightly arranged and have enough potting mix that is not dried out they won't blow over. There are tips on windy conditions if you search the wintersowing board. Regarding the mulch. It does help greatly with the weeds and soil moisture. But, it also breaks down and gets other debris mixed in that turns it into a good medium for weed seeds to germinate in the mulch itself. The good thing though is that it keeps the ground moist, so pulling weeds is much easier. You will have less weeds with mulch than just bare ground, but it won't be weed free and no maintenance I guess it what I was saying. If you have tightly spaced healthy desirable plants they will mostly out compete and shade out the weeds whether you have a thick layer of mulch or not. My ultimate goal is to not have to buy mulch. I am trying to leave as much plant debris in place as possible and just chop it up a bit. I rake leaves into the beds a few inches deep. If I could chop them up it would be better. I use grass clippings sometimes too. It is not too late to sow annuals that don't need cold in containers or directly now. Due to bad weather I am running late this year. I am going to direct sow some zinnias, sunflowers, cosmos, dill, and a few others this week. I know what all these seedlings look like so I am able to easily weed out anything else that pops up there. That is one of the keys to direct sowing because anytime you disturb the soil and keep it moist for your seeds to germinate you are also creating the ideal condition for weed seeds as well. Wet cardboard and newspaper does work pretty well for smothering existing growth too. Good luck and be sure to check out any newbie seed offers before you purchase more seed this winter. You'd be surprised what you can get. Having a "seeds wanted" list on your exchange page before joining any offers helps adopters/sponsors know what you are looking for too. I think there is an adopt a newbie thread on the seed exchange forum now. Here is a link that might be useful: http://faq.gardenweb.com/faq/wtrsow/