The Easy Way to Start Tomatoes (plus a giveaway!)

I'm giving away these tomato seeds. Details at the bottom of the post!

In the northern hemisphere, it is that time of year when gardeners' fingers ache to dig into the dirt. 

Many of us are pouring over seed catalogs, drawing up garden plans, buying bags of potting soil and dreaming of spring. 

But with a simple seed starting method called winter sowing, we can do more than dream. Winter sowing is planting seeds outside while temps are still freezing in containers that are covered with clear plastic. The seeds sprout at their own pace and will turn into strong stocky plants with well developed root systems that need no hardening off and suffer little, if any, transplant shock. With winter sowing, hardy perennials and cold hardy flowers and vegetables can be planted any time in the winter. Tender flowers and vegetables can be started a few weeks before the weather warms up. 

Since learning about winter sowing about 10 years ago, I've started all my seeds this way, with the exception of peppers. I find they need indoor warmth to germinate and otherwise don't make it to maturity. Winter sowing has given me the ability to start all my tomato plants from seed with no hassle and have plenty of stocky little plants for the garden as well as to give away to friends or trade for other things on Craig's List. 

Here in zone 5 in Michigan, I start my tomatoes the around the first of April. We usually still have a few weeks left of snow and freezing weather. The seeds will germinate toward the end of April. Once they germinate, I do throw a blanket over the jugs on nights when the temperature drops back down to freezing, but other than that, they remain outside with little care, except to make sure the soil does not dry out. Our last frost date is usually the last week of May. 

Click here for step by step instructions on winter sowing. 

Some specific tips on planting tomatoes:

• Use high quality potting soil. 
• If you aren't using milk jugs, make sure the plastic you are using to cover your container has ventilation holes in it. 
• I seed 12-15 seeds per gallon jug. 
• Once the seeds sprout, make sure the jugs with the tops on aren't in direct sunlight (the seedlings could be damaged by the concentrated heat). 
• Once the seedlings have their first set of true leaves and the days are warm, you can leave the tops off the jugs and keep them in direct sunlight. I do keep the tops handy to put back on at night to protect against night time cold and frost. 

Milk jugs in the snow with seeds planted in them. 

I often transplant the seedlings from the milk jug to the garden. The seedlings may be small, but they they have well developed root systems and take off quickly. Here two tiny tomato plants are tucked into a row with basil and young spring greens. The basil and greens will be harvested as the tomatoes grow to fill in the space. 

If I am not ready to plant out yet, and the milk jugs are getting crowded, I transplant into pots. I also repot any extra seedlings to give away to friends and neighbors as well as trade for other plants on Craig's List. 

Winter sown tomato plants taking off in the garden. 

 The left over plants (after supplying all my friends and half the neighborhood) set out on the curb  with a free sign.

So what about those tomato seeds?

 These are four varieties of some of my favorite heirloom tomatoes. I saved the seeds from tomatoes grown in my garden last summer. Besides coming in fun colors, heirloom tomatoes are packed with sweetness and flavor, and you can save the seeds from year to year and they will stay true to the variety. 

 To enter this giveaway, all you have to do is leave a garden related comment at the end of this post.  If you've grown heirloom tomatoes before, tell me about your favorite variety. Or share an useful gardening tip or interesting gardening story. Or tell me about your very first garden, or share your garden plans for this year. If your comment does not link back to a blog, please make sure you leave a way for me to contact you if you are the winner. 

Giveaway ends at midnight on 2/6/13 and is open to all readers with a mailing address in the United States. 

German Pink: a large, meaty and sweet pink tomato. Fruits are about one pound. 

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Striped German: A large sweet tomato with marbled orange, red, and yellow flesh.Very pretty when sliced. Fruits can get up to two pounds. 

Black Cherry: dark purple cherry tomatoes packed with zing and flavor. Very productive. 

And the last one is Glacier (which I know I took photos of last summer, but somehow those photos seem to have  completely disappeared). This is a very early (55 days) golf ball size red tomato. Very sweet with a rich tomato flavor. 

I look forward to hearing about your garden and announcing the winner on Thursday!

Update: This giveaway is now closed. The winner is Candy from Lazy J Bar C Farm. 

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Some of the women I blog along side of are also having giveaways on their blogs this week. Once you enter your comment here, please go over and visit these blogs for more chances to win (these start at 8am 2/4)!

Natasha from NatashaMetzler.com {author of Pain Redeemed} is giving away a Set of 16 Valentines {2 each of 8 designs}
Gretchen from GretchenLouise.com is doing a 24 hour giveaway for a Copy of Christin Slade’s new e-book, “Blog at Home Mom” , which releases today! As well as some other book goodies!
Shannon from ArrangedbyGod.com is giving away a $25 gift card to Amazon.com.
Ginger from GingerTruitt.com is giving away a Delectable Box of Chocolates.
Jess from LifeintheWhiteHouse.com is giving away a Floral Glass Tile Necklace.
Lots of fun things to brighten not only your February, but your Valentine’s Day too!
So, there you have it. Be sure to hop on over to everyone’s blog, real-fast, because it ends at 11:59pm on February 6th {EST}!