After loosing all of our snow in late February and enjoying a couple of seventy degree days, winter returned with a vengeance in March. So far this month we've had three or four storms and about 2 feet of snow. The persistently cold temperatures are ensuring the snow sticks around for a while.
It was another good year for the Great Backyard Bird Count, more on that along with some photos at the end of this post.
When the calendar turns to March, thoughts of gardening emerge once again. Even though I love winter and the peacefulness it offers, it soon will be time to move forward with Spring ad Summer.
Winter Sowing
I have written about this technique for several years now, but I am still fascinated that it works at all. So again this year I have planted some kale and lettuce using this technique.
Believe it or not, it is possible to plant seeds in containers now, place outdoors in the snow, and they will germinate in the Spring. The technique is called winter sowing.
The best results will be with cold hardy, short season vegetables such as kale, lettuce, spinach, onions, leeks, radishes, and Brussels sprouts. Tomatoes and peppers will also germinate, but will be delayed compared to those started indoors and will mature much later. The nice thing is that seeds sown this way require absolutely no care once planted until they germinate.
For more information, visit Winter-Sown.
This year I planted Romaine and Butter Crunch lettuce, along with Red Russian and Siberian Improved Dwarf kale.
The technique is simple, start with a one gallon milk or water jug that is clean. Cut the jug in half except to leave one area at the handle to act as a hinge, Several drain holes should be drilled in the bottom also.
Fill the container with a good seed starting mix or potting soil and wet thoroughly. Potting soil actually works better since it tends to absorb and retain more moisture which will lead to more successful germination. Seed starting mixes (usually just peat moss) tend to dry out very quickly.
The excess water will drain via the drain holes. Never use your garden soil for starting plants, since the microorganisms (bacteria, fungus, mold) can hamper the germination process and even kill seedlings.
Plant the seeds and cover with the appropriate amount of soil as per directions on the seed packet. Water again lightly. I use a spray bottle for this since a mist doesn't disturb the seeds during the watering process.
The final step is to seal the containers with duct tape and place outside. That's right, place them out in the snow with caps removed. The opening in the top will allow moisture to enter and also prevent the containers from overheating once spring arrives.
Starting Onions and Leeks
Onions are more commonly planted using onion sets or onion plants. However, I really enjoy Sweet Spanish onions which are hard to find either as sets or plants, but are available as seeds. These onions get to be softball size and store fairly well, although not as well as typical yellow onions (usually Stuttgart).
I also am also planting American Flag leeks. Leeks, as far as I know, can only be grown from seed.
The containers I am using were originally used for holding peat pellets, but I re-use them using a good potting mix. I like to use one that already has plant food added. These containers have a plastic lid which help retain moisture until the seeds germinate.
First, thoroughly wet the soil and level off. Sprinkle seeds on the soil being careful not to plant them too densely.
Finally, cover the seeds with about a quarter to half inch of soil and tamp down lightly. Again wet the soil, using a fine mist as to not disturb the seeds.
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| Onions and Leeks Planted 3/10/18 |
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| Sweet Spanish Onions Sprouting |
As a reminder, placing the trays in sunlight is not necessary for seeds to germinate, but they should be in a warm location. Once the seeds start to sprout, I then recommend putting them in a sunny location for at least 4 hours a day. Once the weather warms, I will set up my outdoor greenhouse and the plants can be moved there at least during the day, being careful to bring them in at night if temperatures go below freezing.
Bird Photos/Great Backyard Bird Count
From the GBBC website:
Checklist and species totals for the 2018 GBBC have set two new records:
Species: 6,310 (2017 species total: 5,940)
Complete Checklists: 176,905 (2017 checklists: 173,826)
Estimated Participants: 192,456 (2017 participant estimate: 214,018)
Note that some of the numbers may still change slightly as the final checklists for the GBBC dates are added through eBird or flagged reports are validated by our reviewers and added to the database.
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| American Goldfinch |
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| House Finch |
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| Black Capped Chickadee |
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| Mourning Dove |
As always, I enjoyed the Great Backyard Bird Count. I hope you did also as it is a great family activity. The species that I observed over the entire count are as follows:
1 Mourning Dove
2 Red-Bellied Woodpecker
3 Downy Woodpecker
4 Blue Jay
5 Black-Capped Chickadee
6 European Starling
7 Dark-Eyed Junco
8 White-Throated Sparrow
9 Common Grackle
10 American Goldfinch
11 House Sparrow
Until next time
