Horticulture Therapy

There really, truly is something called horticulture therapy. There are studies and research being done about the incredible positive effects that touching, playing, and digging in the soil can have on your emotional state. For me, come January, I'm feeling ready to start digging in the dirt. Just the smell of garden soil seems to lifts my spirits!

A few weeks ago, I started some seedlings and they have mostly germinated and are coming up all green and cheerful. It is mostly flowers such as geraniums, foxglove, ornamental mint, petunias, and those plants that take about three weeks to germinate. It is a great lesson in patience as I baby those plants, hoping that they will sprout.

Something new that my kids and I are experimenting with this year is winter sowing. Basically the concept is rather than worrying about grow lights, heat mats and watering, you simply put seeds in plastic jugs outside in the snow and wait for them to sprout when the time is right. Sounds crazy right?! I have yet to see the results but this is what we did:

Step 1 - Wash and rinse plastic jugs like juice jugs, cut them in half.

Step 2 - Fill with 3-4 inches of pre-moistened potting soil.

Step 3 - Put seeds in the containers and lightly cover with soil.

Step 4 - Tape jug back together with duct tape. Write the name of the seed you planted and the date it was planted in marker on the jug. Remove the lid from the jug. This allows the snow and rain to fall into the jug freely.

Step 5 - Place your jugs together in your yard in a non protected area so that there is exposure to the elements.

I pushed snow around the jugs so the wind wouldn't knock them over.

Step 6 - Wait for warmer weather to see if your seedlings have decided to germinate.

After these steps, supposedly when your seedlings have their true leaves you can take the jug apart and carefully separate your seedlings and plant them in your garden! They have found that the plants started this way are much more hardy and stand up to the elements much better than plants started in a greenhouse. So give it a try! It is really fun to do with your kids! We'll let you know our results in a couple of months!