Thank you Veggieluv, we luv you too! Yes, the 'Winter Sowing Method' is not winter sowing a field in October with a green manure to turn under in April, or a winter rye, etc, to be cut for crop or fodder the next Spring. When you google Winter Sowing, the first hundred hits are dominated by the method, the ancient agricultural practice is going further and further behind the main pages. A few years back I went down to Beltsville seeking guidance and they very kindly and patiently gave it to me, as well taught me how to manage and grow my website. And it is that scholarly guidance which is why the method dominates over the ancient farming practice when you search the internet for 'Winter Sowing'. If you recheck the FAQs you'll see that the first one there is "How to Winter Sow", I think that is what you are referring to as what you want to read again. The FAQs were needed because there was a LOT of explaining because as you say, it is counter-intuitve, and it is also counter-cultural; many people believe that you need those heat mats and light set-ups to begin any sort of seed, and among the more experienced there were arguements that Deno's set of numbers had to be followed exactly. So, God bless Beltsville as they were the first authority who didn't start their convo with "No. You're crazy." I did good, so did they. We have a work-in-progress Database, there are veggies and herbs listed. I repeat it is a work in progress and it was created by the forum, my hands were not involved in its creation, but do to the need to house it in a reliable url, it is now at WinterSown.Org. Last week I finished the "cleaning and dusting", reframed it into a nicer grid, and uploaded the DB. The DB is in plain-text, you don't need Excel or Word or any database reading program, you can just click on the links and there it is. Keep in mind that not seeing a plant there doesn't mean that it can't be WS, and seeing a "NO" there also doesn't mean that it can't be WS--this is because there hasn't yet been enough years of entry to reliably prove and disprove particular plants. The DB is a suggestion and guide, but it is not the know-all, end-all, do-all, be-all for what seeds you can sow with the method. I am very glad that VeggieLuv mentioned tomatoes and peppers, initially most people think that you can't WS them. Consider the plants that reseed in your garden--we've all heard the legendary tales about toms germinating in cracks in sidewalks and growing to be the healthiest plants anyone has ever seen. Toms do reseed in a temperate climate because they're from a temperate climate, peppers and eggplants and all solanums can reseed. It does make sense that it you live in zone five or colder, that you choose a short season tom and not a 110 dtm type because you may be bringing in green fruits to ripen on the counter. Short season gardens need short season varieties. Give it a try, if you're unsure of the method then hold back some seeds to sow by whatever means you want, then at the end of the season compare the vigor, health, flowers or crops of what you sow. Your eyes are your teachers. Here is a link that might be useful: Winter Sowing Database

Susan, Oh, okay, I don't know what I was thinking that you had started them indoors. I'm hoping that I'll get a head start on them this way. I didn't plant quite all of them yet because I wasn't sure if I was starting them too early. Now that our last frost date is about two months from now (April 15), I suppose that I could start the rest inside. My problem is that I ran out of containers and will have to go get some more. I have all of my individual one and two-gallon ones used with my swamp milkweed started outside, and the smaller individual ones have butterfly weed and tropical milkweed in them. Then I also have 3 flats (72 in a flat) with swamp milkweed in two of them started outside and butterfly weed in the other one. Then I also have butterfly weed and tropical milkweed started in cups. I probably am up to close to 300 milkweed plants here, assuming that the seeds all germinate (I put two in each container), and I'm not even done yet. lol Of course, then there's the Chelone glabra, Zizia aurea, Zizia aptera, Heraculeum maximum, Foeniculum vulgare azoricum, and Angelica atropurpurea seeds from you that I have winter sown. I started some snapdragons inside, Blazing Star Liatris, also Agastache foeniculum and Blue Fescue (I suppose I could have winter sown those last two). I'll direct sow my lupines, zinnias, cosmos, and dill. There, I think I remembered everybody. :) I want to try to locate a small spicebush around here. I wonder if there'd be any harm in digging one out and relocating it here at the edge of our yard next to the woods? A sassafras tree would be nice too. Of course, I'm thinking about other plants for next year...I'd even plant a paw paw tree if I knew that I could get ZST up here, but my Butterflies Through Binoculars book shows their range ending around the southern border of PA. There are so many different kinds of butterflies that I'd like to attract here, but I don't think I want to dig up our whole backyard. :) It's snowing a lot here right now. Schools let out at noon today and have already cancelled for tomorrow. I suppose the weather will soon clear up out your way. Come on spring! Cathy

I wintersowed 25 containers today with a class of 1st graders. They had a blast. We experimented with several different containers. The kids were very excited. By the way our outside temps were - 8 degrees this morning ...zone 5 . My total count is 103. I just got a huge seed order so I will be sowing like crazy in the next week.

10 more containers WS'd today in addition to previous posted (8 + 17 + 46) 71 for grand total of 81 - zone 5