It has been a minute, I know but like all good things, a little break is sometimes needed. I’m trying to find more time to write, read, and be creative on my own terms this year, so I’m dusting off this lil newsletter in the process. Thanks for sticking with me!
What’s Growing in the Winter?
The good news is that we’ve already had a no-good-very-bad-week of weather here in Montana, and it happened the very first week of meteorological winter, back in December 2022. We had windchills in the -20s to -50s (yes, that’s a number) for about a week and I discovered that all the metal in my left shin from my broken tibia really doesn’t like it when it gets that cold for that long. I was as achey and creaky as the tin man, without the sassy hat.
But, now it’s a reasonable 30s (Above zero, thank you very much) and I’m in possession of a leaky gallon jug so I’ve already attacked it and made it into a vessel for winter sowing. Now, “winter sowing” is pretty neat. You can put out seeds in some containers you’ve created and basically set it and forget it. They get light and heat (kinda) from the sun and water from the snow/rain that falls. Last year, we got too hot in the late part of the winter and my gallon jugs turned into saunas. But if we keep having “average” temps like this, I should be able to get somewhere.
What you end up with are super plants. Basically they’re so hearty they don’t need to be hardened off in the spring, and you can just open up your containers and plop them into the ground. I’ll try it out with some long-term growers like kale, which I like to have around as early in the spring as possible. If I get more containers together (I use gallon jugs of distilled water for feeding the sourdough starter and the neti pot, rather than gallons of milk, but it’s the same plastic) I’ll sow some batches of flowers or annuals that need a bit more lead time than normal. We plan on starting seeds under grow lights for hot peppers this year indoors, but not till March/April.
Some great resources on winter sowing:
Sandia Seeds’ blog post with this cute lil illustration:
What this all has to do with life right now
Sowing seeds outdoors in winter seems crazy, but really it’s about finding a way to produce without feeling overwhelmed with life. We’re all feeling pretty exhausted and “over it” regarding life, even just on day one back after the holidays. So why make it worse with a lot of projects that seem too big?
Instead — plant some seeds and see if they’ll grow. Try to make small movements. See what happens. If it doesn’t work, pivot and move on!
What I’m Doing/Listening/Watching/Reading
Adding post-its to pages of seed catalogues
Ted Lasso and lots of self-made shows about traveling around England by narrowboat on Amazon Prime
“When Franny Stands Up” by Eden Robins.