Recently, the Village Library in Broadway hosted the first in a series with Master Gardeners, Elissa Parish and Jan Worthy, from the Virginia Cooperative Extension Master Gardener Pro-gram. They are part of Central Shenandoah Valley Master Gardeners covering Rockingham and Augusta counties.
The subject of the hour-long presentation was a how-to on winter seed starting. Attendees got to make their own starter, with milk cartons, soil, and an assortment of seeds to choose from, sup-plied by the speakers.
The definition of winter sowing, according to the USDA is “A propagation method used throughout the winter where temperate climate seeds are sown into vented containers and placed outdoors to foster naturally timed, high percentage germination of climate-tolerant seedlings.”
The power point presentation started with the history of cooperative extension, and its beginnings in research-based knowledge on horticulture.
In 1973, Extension Master Gardeners was created, to assist individual homeowners with their planting questions, to take some of the burden off extension agents who dealt with growers and farmers.
Winter sowing is easy. The seeds will grow at the right time, with Mother Nature at the helm, and as long as the seeds are viable, will have a high success rate of sprouting. Since they have been outside, they do not need to be “hardened off” or get accustomed to being outside.
Winter sowing is cost effective, minimal care required, you are in control of “germination, location, and conditions’”.
Environmentally friendly, you are recycling containers. The women demonstrated how you can use what you have at home – even making plant markers by cutting old venetian blinds down to use as labels.
Also recommended was the type of planting medium/soil to use, have a soil thermometer to gauge when best to transplant the seedlings, and to be safe- plant after May 15.
At the end of the presentation, everyone got a chance to get their hands dirty, make a container, choose their seeds, and make a label. They were able to take home their first gallon milk carton winter “greenhouse”.
upcoming Master Gardener presentations
Starting a Garden Saturday, March 28th at 10:30 am
Container Gardening, April 25th at 10:30 am
Composting, May 23rd at 10:30 am
For information on becoming a Master Gardener: csvmga.org
Plant Sales
May 9th– Rockingham County Admin Ctr, 20 Gay St, Harrisonburg
Sept date TBD – United Methodist Church parking lot, 406 Lee Highway, Verona
Help Desk can be found at Harrisonburg Farmers Market
