Accidental Rancher: Winter Sowing

By Eliza Blue

“The sun’s rays are slanting across the gray winter grass in our yard. Beside the old shop, my son plants long nails in the dirt, carefully pretending to pound each one with a hammer. Next to him, his dad does the same, only it’s not pretend. “Clonk, Clonk, Clonk,” the heavy sound of metal on wood echoes through the cooling air, and bounces back to where I sit. Slowly, one slat at a time, a small structure is taking shape. It’s a lean-to greenhouse that the boys are building for my birthday, and I am in love.”

When I wrote these words 4 years ago, I’d been coveting a greenhouse for some time. In a region where we typically only have three frost-free months a year, gardeners must be one part foolhardy and one part brave. Potatoes usually do okay, as does zucchini (a vegetable so easy to grow you can’t give it away) but almost everything else requires careful tending, and even then may not produce.

Back east where I am from, you can toss a handful of seeds over your shoulder, then come back a month or two later and start harvesting. Here, wind, hail, drought, and sudden temperature spikes in either direction, all make gardening a gambler’s game. A greenhouse buys wiggle room – a little longer for the seeds to spend both in the soil and inside, protected from the unpredictability of Western Dakota’s wild weather.

Previously, a large wooden desk in front of a picture window served as the growing station, but it didn’t receive quite enough light, so the resulting plants were spindly and awkward and not at all prepared for life outdoors. I usually transplanted them, watched them fail to thrive, and then ended up buying replacements after all. So, the man of the ranch took pity on me and brought my greenhouse dream to life.

This is how I ended up sitting in the old shop to which the greenhouse is attached today, gazing out across the yard and counting my blessings. It’s too early to start any vegetable seeds, even with a greenhouse, but this year I am trying something new: winter sowing. Planting perennials and hardy annual flowers in January in an unheated greenhouse can apparently yield good results. As the weather chills and warms, the seeds will freeze and thaw. These natural actions loosen the seed-coatings. The advance soaking or nicking of hard-shelled seeds, such as those of Morning Glories and Sweet Peas, is not necessary when you winter-sow. During the first blush of spring, but while nights are still freezing, seedlings will begin to emerge. Covering the containers at night will protect them, and in the meantime, early spring blossoms will greet you as a reward.

Standing in the greenhouse, hands dirty, skin sun-warmed, I feel again the sweet rush of joy I did that first winter with a greenhouse. The prospect of flowers is reason enough to rejoice, but so is the present moment — the smell of soil, the brightness of the prairie light before the winter sun begins its return to the western horizon, the pleasure of this work.

How many moments in life do we get to experience pure, complete, uncomplicated contentment? I’ve had my share, but probably not more than I can count on one hand, and certainly not many that hang in the sun-drenched quiet of a greenhouse in winter. Soon I will see the first streaks of twilight etched against the bold blue of the sky, and I will head inside. I will wash my hands and putter through the house putting away laundry and picking up supplies from some scattered craft project. I will make supper in the kitchen, and when I look out the little window over the sink, I will spy my greenhouse catching the last of the western light, glowing like a jewel on fire against the dark blanket of the horizon, a promise of more sweet times ahead.

Eliza Blue lives on a ranch in northwest South Dakota. She’s a musician, mom, author, and shepherd. She writes a column for newspapers in her region and produces audio commentary for South Dakota Public Radio. You can learn more about Eliza on her website.

This article first appeared on The Daily Yonder and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

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Previously Published on dailyyonder.com with Creative Commons License

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