That is my sister Kathy's favorite saying, 'What a maroon I am'.
It's been a long time since I've heard that.

Thank you Sharon. : )
Have you ever used the WS method?

I do WS flowers, Lynn, but never vegetables.
I'm not sure why that is, maybe because we have a few early farmers markets here.
Maybe because i can plant peas in the garden in February, and a few other leafy veggies as well.
Or maybe I'm lazy

No home grown tomatoes, Sharon?

Karen

The school where I taught for years has a greenhouse, all organic, no chemicals. Their tomato plants will be ready to plant the first week of April and they usually have a nice variety, along with an heirloom or two. The students learn a lot about gardening through their program and it culminates in their big sale the first week of April every year.

So I like to support them, and since there's only me to feed, I don't ever plant in huge quantities anymore.
Same thing with peppers.

Sounds like a good deal, Sharon.

I only grow a few tomato plants per year, too. It's only my husband and me here now, and you can only give away so many tomatoes.

Karen

Exactly. And squash . . .

Sharon I keep forgetting your growing season is so much longer than ours. : )

We have to plant early because by July it's all dried up from heat (and usually drought) except for corn but I don't plant corn anyway. We almost have time for a late fall garden too, but it's so dry now in August and September, it isn't always successful.

Our gardens are just getting started in July.
This last growing season was a very cool one, nights in the 50's instead of 60's. Daytime temps were okay, but it is really difficult for tomatoes and peppers to do well with temps that cool at night.

valleylynn said:
Have you ever used the WS method?

Lynn ~ When do you start your tomatoes outside?


Evelyn

Hi Evelyn.
I have started them the end of January. They started germinating the first part of March. We get cold weather and frost up until some time the first part of May. It is amazing how easy it is to start seeds using the WS method.

Good to know.
I've saved a bunch of containers and was wondering about timing....

I have some alpine type plant seeds that I will be using the WS method. That way I don't have to worry about damping off, weeds, etc.

crittergarden said:
Yesterday, I was washing some store bought grape tomatoes and wondered if the perforated clam shell container they came in would be too shallow. It has a solid top, a solid bottom, with perforations around the perimeter on top and bottom. It's only about 4" tall and 6" square. Too short?

I have used those with success. I just put produce bags (opaque plastic) over them until they germinate. Then I slice holes in them, and then gradually remove them altogether. You could try it and see how it compares, while you are using the jugs.

Evelyn, I've had time to change my course here on the winter sowing... I found that Tidy Cat cat litter came in a nice big jug, kind of an over sized milk jug. So I used that for as long as I could stand it (it's HEAVY...) and have collected a LOT of jugs. I'm going to CUT OFF the BOTTOMS, remove the lids, and put my seeds directly into the soil with the jug over them like a cloche with a rain hole. I will run a chain or maybe a pipe (if I can arrange them all where the pipe won't tip them over) to keep them in place. In SOME areas, I will instead use an inverted clear plastic bin, with space for rain around the perimeters, and a brick on top. I came into a small stash of smaller bins that I think the rain can soak to the middle of. The whole thing about making that hinge in a milk jug and then transplanting out of that bothered me......

Of course I'll have no RESULTS to share until summer, but here I go!

Your idea sounds very interesting. Hope you will be able to take photos and keep us updated on the results of your experiment. Sound very doable.

I'll sure try.
I take pictures at least once a week, from my window that overlooks the garden, for documentation.
If I get ones good enough to zoom in on, I'll post them.

That would be great.