I'm all the way across the country, but you can start anything now. Seeds don't come up until it's warm enough, and while the milk jugs and such create a little hot house, it's only a few degrees warmer. So unless you get a warm spell of considerable length, nothing's likely to come up until it's ready to survive. Exceptions are usually in the warmer climates of the south or southwest, although last winter threw most of us in the mid-atlantic for a loop -- i'd never had to cover my sprouts before last march because I'd never had any that early that weren't cold hardy.

FWIW, I've never ws peas or beans -- always direct sow them because they grow fast and I'm not sure how well they survive transplanting.

Caryl

I would not do corn, either. They seem to rot too easily for me if I do corn early. Just my experience....

This post was edited by pghgardengirl on Fri, Jan 25, 13 at 12:50

I am new to this myself, & I got busy sowing without realizing it might be too early for some things. I had to prepare a bed quickly for my beans because they were hitting the top of my one gallon vinegar jugs. Our weather was very warm when I sowed them. Since then we've had a couple of freezing nights & I've had to cover the bed with plastic. Also, in one milk jug of tomatoes I lost all but one seedling, but in other jugs they were fine. Not sure what got them there, but if I were doing it again I'd wait a bit longer to start the tender things because our last frost date is in March.

Growsy, you're considerably south of me. Oh, to have a last frost of March! Ours is May, usually safe by mother's day, but I've planted out earlier and been OK -- only one scare and that frost never materialized, although rigging up a cover for a 40' x 15 ft patch of tomatoes wasn't fun.

It's snowing here now (Friday night).

Caryl

olivesmom - if you're close to Enumclaw & want to attend a 4-H winter sowing workshop I'll be leading on Feb. 2 it is open to all not just 4-H members. Topics aren't just on gardening, but all sorts of subjects & a hands-on event.

I would have sent you a note via GW, but you're email is blocked. If you have questions contact me through GW email.

Corrine

Here is a link that might be useful: Super Saturday Feb. 2 Enumclaw, WA

Thanks Corrine, I'm actually pretty close to enumclaw so I will try to attend!

Now I'm off to change my GW email settings.

olivesmom - I think you need to look up each of your vegetables separately. Wintersowing is fine for hardy plants when it doesn't really matter if a few fall by the wayside or pop up at odd times but if you are wanting to grow a successful vegetable garden you need to be a bit more careful and precise with the treatment of each crop. I suggest you consult the people over on the Vegetable Forum. The timing of vegetable crops is much more complex than for ornamentals and you could be very disappointed if you don't do your homework on each variety.

olivesmom: I look forward to meeting you at the workshop. I received your email, but can't reply to it. Yes, bring your jugs precut. Follow examples by gardenweed on the thread How do you prep & sow your jugs. Keeping the jug handle uncut to work as a hinge works great and you don't need to cut out a window.

I also send you another message through GW.

Corrine