Michigan Thread - all are welcome!

[chickwhispers]

Thanks!! Excuse my s-l-o-o-w-w-w-n-e-s-s, but would a south wall of the house be good or does it matter if they warm up and then freeze again?

 

[chickwhispers]

D-U-H I just reread previous post!

 

[gladahmae]

I'm putting mine on the south wall, but I'll probably have to move them because that part gets sun alllllllll day long and would probably end up baking the plants once they come up. Really, it's easy to experiment a little to see what works best for your location. There's not really an exact science to it......just treating it like you would treat any plants: some sun, some water, and so on. The freezing/thawing is part of the process to help the seed germinate in some cases. Most seeds won't come up until the soil is a certain temperature, so daytime 40s and nighttime 20s is ok.

 

[chickwhispers]

Awesome! I'm big on gardening, just that a bit out of practice. Haven't had the time to put into as much the last couple of years. And I've never really had too much luck with sowing indoors! About half ever worked out. The plants always got kind of spindly and weak. So I guess you might say I'm used to "experiments" gone awry.

Haven't grown any "frankensteins" yet though.

 

[HollyDuckFarmer]

... Tomatoes are supposed to do GREAT wintersown as well.

... What date would you do tomatoes Glad? I'm been going back and forth, inside or out? But every single time I do seeds inside they die off during the hardening off phase. Winter sowing eliminates this. I think last year I did my annuals in the middle of March. The process of the freeze thaw cycles working on the perennial seeds is called "cold stratification" and yes it does work! My Farmer's Almanac has instructed me to begin my peppers, onions, and leeks (I think) the 24th... Too soon to go outside tho with the next polar vortex?

 

[gladahmae]

Honestly, I just buy my tomatoes from a local place. Hahhahhaha! I can get a couple of flats in the end of May for about $15 and have more tomatoes than I really should. I do my winter sowing for things I know will cost me a lot more to buy started......herbs, squash, cukes, etc. I may try some heirloom tomatoes this year in a few jugs but we mainly can/freeze so slicing tomatoes don't get used up very quickly here......mostly they get fed to the chickens!

 

[HollyDuckFarmer]

Lol. This year I decided I was going to grow my own from seed. About heirlooms, I had some that I'd bought probly 3-4 years ago from an old farmer fellow down the way, those plants reseeded and overwintered! Amazed me.

 

[snowflake]

I'm putting mine on the south wall, but I'll probably have to move them because that part gets sun alllllllll day long and would probably end up baking the plants once they come up. Really, it's easy to experiment a little to see what works best for your location. There's not really an exact science to it......just treating it like you would treat any plants: some sun, some water, and so on. The freezing/thawing is part of the process to help the seed germinate in some cases. Most seeds won't come up until the soil is a certain temperature, so daytime 40s and nighttime 20s is ok.

LOVE this idea, plan to start some this weekend. thanks for sharing info and pics

 

[snowflake]

question about Welsummers......I know you can tell difference between male and female chicks, it was posted here before, now that they may be in the store, I would like to practice. but can't remember the difference......... any one help?

 

[RaZ]

From the Welsummer club
http://wcna.webs.com/chicks.htm