OAKHURST – The Superbowl is Sunday but for tillers of soil, Sunday’s nearly balmy temperatures, expected to be in the mid-sixties, it’s an opportunity to get outside and do some winter gardening.
True Value Home Center is offering a free Winter Sowing and Preparing New Garden Beds Workshop, in the garden department, Sunday, Feb. 3, starting at 1 p.m.
Blogger Sue Langley is the Garden Coordinator at True Value and says part of the no-cost workshop will focus on a technique called winter sowing.
“You can sow seeds in recyclable containers and leave them outdoors to let Mother Nature let them sprout at the proper time, which would be a few months down the road for us,” says Langley.
“During winter all your containers will be covered with rain or snow. So you plant them as usual in something like a plastic container that fruit or grapes would come in, and they sprout in usually March or April. The seeds are sown in about two inches of soil in whatever container you use, and then the lids are kept on to protect them.”
Once seeds have sprouted, the clever cultivator removes the plastic tops and the plants continue to grow. The idea is to create a mini-greenhouse (or many) by recycling common household plastic throwaways.
“You can use the technique with cool season vegetables and any flowers that you can normally grow in this area,” Langley suggests.”Wildflowers are good and any other perennial or annual that you know grows in this area can be sprouted from seed in this way.”
In addition to the winter sowing demonstration, those who attend will learn ways to prepare for spring.
“We will also be talking about starting new garden beds and what you can do this winter even to get them started for spring,” continues the Sierra Foothill Garden writer.
Langley promises one more perk for people who show up for Sunday’s workshop: “There will be a discount coupon for all the participants for things that we will be talking about, and related items in the store.” The store flyer advertises a 20% discount on any plant.
