In October, experienced gardeners and flower growers do not stop planting in order to get seedlings in early spring.
Sowing before winter has many important advantages: seedlings appear two weeks earlier than when sowing in spring, the harvest ripens faster, and immediately after the snow melts, the family can feast on fresh herbs.
What will we plant
Firstly, any greens (dill, celery, sorrel, lettuce and spinach) easily tolerate frosts, spring up evenly and amicably in the spring. Parsley is highly recommended: this plant takes a very long time to grow if planted in spring, and sown in winter – just right. Root crops: radishes, turnips, beets, carrots. Onions and winter garlic keep well in the ground and give a good harvest. They can also be sown with seeds before winter. Do not forget about the flower garden: some plants will also delight you with early spring shoots and friendly flowering. These are pyrethrum, iberis, delphinium, escholzia, cornflower, purslane, godetia, gypsophila, snapdragon, petunia, Chinese carnation, calendula. It is necessary to sow a little denser than with spring sowing, since the germination rate is slightly reduced.
Better conditions
There is no exact date, just try to catch the moment when persistent cold weather sets in. The main criterion is the freezing topsoil. Choose the most elevated places of the site for subwinter beds, where snow melts faster in spring. Prepare the soil on it in advance, dig it up, add sand: during the winter the earth is very compacted, and the seedlings will have a hard time. In addition, the sandy soil will quickly get rid of melt water. Apply fertilizers: compost, humus, or phosphorus-potassium. Make grooves 3 to 5 cm deep and cover them so that the rain does not wash away. When the time is right, sow dry seeds, sprinkle 2 cm of sand on top and mulch with peat or sawdust. No need to water! Cover with spruce branches or dry foliage, branches with dry foliage or dry leaf litter with a layer of at least 15 cm.
Seeds undergo winter hardening, and crops grown from them are less sick
Choose the varieties
Podwinter plants have an important disadvantage: they often turn into color or do not produce normal root crops. To avoid this, crops are sown directly into the frozen soil so that the seeds lie dry until the spring thaw. Some varieties are resistant to flowering. Choose them whenever possible. Beets – podzimnyaya A-474, cold-resistant 19, polar flat K-249, Egyptian flat. Radish: “Heat”, “Zarya”, rose-red with a white tip. Carrots – “Nantes 4”, “Vitamin 6”, NIIOH 336.