Hi, Carole. Shop lights will work just fine! I'm so glad you are enjoying my videos. If you have any questions along the way, just drop me a note at [email protected].

Hi, Tammy. Thanks so much for subscribing! I plan to do lots of videos on veggie gardening this year. I also have a lot of resources on my website (www.susansinthegarden.com/), including my brand-new "Grow Vegetables" guide (the link it in the menu across the top). I hope you have a great garden season!

I'm so glad you enjoyed the video and thanks for the great tip!

Thanks so much, Maxie!

Hi, Teri. I'm so glad you have been enjoying my videos. Thank you.

Hi, Rose. The bed in the foreground was planted with garlic and shallots, so it was covered with a thick layer of grass clippings and shredded leaves to prevent frost-heaving during the winter months. The other beds just have a bit of garden debris on them, from the previous growing season. With regards to the grass clippings on the garlic bed, we do push it aside a bit in the spring so the emerging garlic and shallot plants can easily grow (grass clippings tend to form a mat over the winter). But for the rest of the beds, as long as the garden debris isn't too "chunky," we'll just incorporate into the soil while preparing the beds in spring. We always add compost to the beds as well. When I chose the photo for this video, I was looking for something "frosty" in the garden, since I was talking about last frosts at that point. I'm so glad you enjoyed the video!

@SusansInTheGarden thank you

I'm glad you found the video helpful. Have fun sowing your seeds!

I agree, Joyce. Seed-starting mix is the preferred method, although I realize some folks might not have easy access to it.

Thanks, Betty! That was my goal.

No, that is something completely different. The product I was referring to is finely milled sphagnum moss. Vermiculite will help keep the seedling stems dry, which is helpful. It can contain asbestos (not always, though), so I haven't used it for years.

@ thank you. Did not know about asbestos. Will research the asbestos issue since I purchased at NW Pet and Seed.

Thanks, David!

My pleasure! I hope the video is helpful.

@ Very helpful and I’m going to start a garden for the first time, soon.

@ That is awesome. I have a lot of helpful information on my website, www.susansinthegarden.com/. That includes my new "Grow Vegetables" section. You'll definitely want to check it out.

@ thank you and I will!

Hello! It's nice to meet you and that was nice of My Rusty Garden to send you my way. I hope you will enjoy my gardening videos. I have over 600 of them! Have a great garden season.

Hi, Michele. They are about 72" long. The length of PVC will depend upon the width of your planting bed and how high you want them. Broccoli plants gets pretty tall, so this size works great.

Hi, Michele. I have and it's a great catalog!

Hi, Michele. That sounds like a great idea. Thank you for sharing it. I've never had any problems with the seedlings after transplanting them into the garden, but your method is definitely an option. We start 72 corn seedlings each year (sometimes more), so I'd hate to go through that many cups!

Hi, Lora. It's nice to meet you. I'm so glad you enjoyed the video and it sounds like you've checked out my website, too. That's awesome. You will love Tuscan Napoli, by the way! Have a great garden season.

My pleasure! I'm anxious for spring to get here, too!

Hello and welcome! I think Cosmos flowers are so beautiful. I hope you will enjoy my videos, which come out every Thursday.

Too funny! You have to go slowly and carefully so you don't damage the bulb.

Good morning, Donna. Glad you enjoyed the video. Winter sowing is great fun!

That is a great idea! You will quickly become fast friends.

Susan, I live in Spokane too and met you at your talk last year at th Airway Heights Recreation. You also helped me identify a yellow tree I saw once. This coming Wednesday, I will be sharing your information about Winter Sowing with a few gals in my church. I'm hoping they will want to start a Garden Club at church, and if so, we will tap into your videos, website and books. Every spring, they have a plant sale. Our church is mainly made up of old people, and we are trying to reach out to the younger generation who have kids, passing our ❤ of gardening onto them. 👪

@ I think that is fabulous. I hope you can all form a garden club.

I'm so glad to hear that! I think winter sowing is the perfect cure for the wintertime blues.

That sounds like a great idea.

I know the feeling! As I mention in the video, I like to recycle the milk jugs to use year after year. And each year, I tend to add another jug or two, so I'm getting quite the collection!

Glad you enjoyed the video!

You can wait until then, if you'd like. But I've always started mine in the dead of winter and haven't had any problems.

Hi, Cindy. That's what I thought the first year I tried it, but it really does work!

Aww, thank you so much! I'm glad it was helpful.

Wonderful!

I'd love to hear how they do for you.

@SusansInTheGarden Absolutely. I'll post an update in the comments when you do a video on the progress of yours later in the season.

Hi, Gail. Thank you so much on both counts!

That's a good tip. Thanks, Deborah!

Hi there. Yes, it's a heated birdbath that we originally got from Gardener's Supply (gardeners.com). However, we mounted it on a sturdier base, so it's not 100% from them. But yes, our bird friends really appreciate it, plus it's important for birds to be able to drink and bathe year-round.

Hi, Claire. Hmm, that's frustrating. I have a single microphone that transmits to a single receiver. There is nothing that allows me to set individual volumes for left vs. right. I'm assuming this is only a problem with my videos and not other folks' videos, right? I'm going to have to ponder that for a bit!

This year, I am going to use the 2.5 gallon water jugs for my winter sowing, turned on its back side, with the taller part standing up. This way, I can grow taller varieties of plants without having their tops crowded.

Happy to help! It's nice to recycle them.

Hi, David. I transplant them into the garden when the time is right. Usually by that time, the seedlings are a nice size anyway.

Thanks

Good morning! Our weather has been fairly mild (although it's quite chilly now) but very little snow. That's not good for the overwintering beneficial insects plus we really need some moisture. Hoping things improve soon.

Hi, Janis. Thank you for your kind words. In 2023, I shot an even better video that covers that: kzbin.info/www/bejne/b4rQl2umj89oe7M. I think it's more helpful and provides you with more options. Have a great garden season!

Hi, Lucy! You've got a lot on your plate right now but we do love to get our gardens going! XO

Good morning. I know some folks do this but I would rather baby them by starting them indoors so they're in perfect shape to grow, once the danger of frost has passed. This also depends on how cold your winters get.

I’ve started tomatoes this way, very successfully, in zone 6B, sowing in February. I’ve never tried eggplant. The tomatoes plants were strong and healthy and did not dampen-off. Also, there were no issues with knowing when to set them out, etc. They just perked along in their milk jug. Give it a try.

@ So I am in zone 5-6 in Ottawa Canada. Currently I plant my tomatoes under a glass window on May 5, typically tomatoes are put in the ground here on the first of June. I will try your plastic bottle method when I get home on 15 April (in Spain right now :). I will let you know how it goes. I really like the idea of no need to harden them off :)

@ will do, I’m not home in Ottawa till mid April but will try then. Thanks.

@@SusansInTheGarden

Go for it, Jeffrey! I know it sounds crazy but it really works.

Oh, you will love it! It's always a happy day when a new issue arrives! I should also mention something interesting: after I had subscribed to it for about 3 years, they offered me a great deal on the magazines by having auto renewal. So that makes it way more affordable.

I'm glad you found it helpful.

Thank you, Helen. I'm glad you enjoyed it.

Thanks for sharing that!

And that is great. I believe I said that if a person was having problems with corn germination, that provides added "insurance" that they'll get a great germination rate. I learned this information from Peter Chan, plant pathologist and soil physicist, many years ago. Sounds like you have a terrific corn patch every year!

Hi, Grace. I completely understand your concerns, however there are a lot of misperceptions out there regarding this. I found a great video for you that explains why it is so important that birds bathe year round: kzbin.info/www/bejne/r6WQkICDesieZq8. And they will know when it's safe to bathe. I hope this helps. Take care.

Hi, Marion. I love Monty's videos, too. Are you watching his "Monty Don's British Gardens" series on KZbin right now? They are glorious! (although the 1st video is missing, but that's OK) Anyway, many of the varieties I'm showing in my video are new to us so I don't have photos of them. I had wanted to pull up photos of the varieties we've grown previously (that we'll grow again this year) to accompany the video but just didn't have the time to track them all down. I hope you have a wonderful garden season!