Hello -- I live in the West Bloomfield/Orchard Lake area -- we're practically neighbors! Um, there are quite a few things you can start now -- early, cold tolerant things like lettuce, escarole/endive/Asian greens for spring crops, peppers and eggplants certainly, early crop tomatoes, most brassicas (hold off on cauliflower another few weeks, they bolt if planted out too early), artichokes.

According to Deno, it needs cold followed by warm to germinate- and he got one seed to germinate after a month. So you'll have to keep your pot outdoors throughout the fall and winter and might get germination next spring.

I started out last year (1st year wintersowing) using a cordless drill to put holes in my containers. Well, that came to a quick stop after I drilled a hole right into my hand! LOL, I'm okay now, but it was not fun at the time! Now I use a soldering iron to drill my holes. It takes a little longer than token's method, but I'm still a little weary of certain tools after that pain of that hole in my hand! Last year I used any kind of clear plastic container I could find. This year I'm going to mostly use 20 oz clear solo cups with the lids on top. They sell beverages in the cafe at work and I've been saving them for over a year now - I've got a ton of them! I'll put the plastic cups in those flats you get from the nursery that will hold 8-12 per flat. This will make it easier to water them. I'll also be using 4 inch pots, 6 pack cell packs and 18 pack cell packs. I'm planning to use rubbermaid type storage boxes and clear blanket bags for those. I think it will help to to sow a lot more varieties and not take up as much space. Of course my alyssums are being sown in cake pans (the ones from store bought cakes), lasagna pans and empty cat litter containers. That's just because I love alyssum so much and want it everywhere! For watering, I purchased a simply mortar mix pan that's about 2 x 3 feet for $4 at Lowe's. I put water in the bottom, put a flat in and let it soak in. Then I move on to the next flat. That worked really well for me this year and you can't beat $4! I sowed over 650 last year and hope to reach 1000 this year. It's so exciting and easy! Thanks Trudi for all the great resources and for welcoming the input of others in their experiences! I'll be sure to post some pictures to share once I get started this year! Diana

Sometimes traders are extremely generous. They send you a life-time supply of seeds. You can't use them all yourself.....so what can you do with them? You can make them into packets and trade them for other seeds you could use, or you can share them as bonuses with your traders. Once seeds from someone else are in your home you can do with them what you like. Trading or giving away the extras will always be acceptable.