I'm in zone 5a ..... I broke all the "rules" one year and started a couple hundred in small pots (4"?) .... one seed per pot, and did it in late Summer/Early Fall. Yes, many of them germinated and started to grow. I put the pots close together in rows about 5 thick, put landscape timbers down the outer edges, and the only mulching they got was what Mother Nature gave them. I think 90% of the one's that had germinated before the snow flew, survived.
This year I am going back to outside ... just a bit differently. I am starting later (some time in November), and using deep "root trainers" instead of pots. I'm a bit hesitant about the root trainers, because they are smaller ... but I think they will be ok. Most will go in a cold frame, in an attempt to get them "bigger" by planting time, and protect them from small and large varmints.
I'll save some seed to start this way in early Spring too. I may even plant as I harvest next year. Of course all this could be done in the ground, but I'm never organized enough to have a bed ready for planting.
