After months of browsing garden magazines, dreaming about this year’s garden (“Armchair Gardening”), the Minnesota gardener’s joyful spirit finally begins to stir.

While the ground remains frozen solid, the most productive season of the year is actually already underway. To maximize your 2026 harvest and bloom, you don’t need to wait for the thaw. Savvy gardeners use a two-pronged strategy to get their garden fix — the high-control environment of Indoor Seed Starting and the simpler, nature-led method of Winter Sowing.  

Growing seeds indoors is best for heat-loving vegetables such as beefsteak tomatoes, peppers,and eggplants in our USDA Zone 4b climate. These plants require a long “runway” before they can safely hit the garden soil in late May. If you are growing seeds left over from last year, ensure they have good viability (see viability check method in link).

To succeed indoors, you must play the role of Mother Nature. She would start with High-Intensity Light. A sunny windowsill rarely provides enough hours of direct sun in February, often leading to leggy, weak-stemed heartbreak. Invest in full-spectrum LED grow lights and position the lights just 2 to 3 inches above the seed-soil surface.

As the seedlings grow taller, you will need to move the light source away from the soil surface to keep it 2 to 3 inches above the top of the plant. Because the indoor gardening setup requires a bit of space in your house, reserve the lights for the “divas” of the flower and vegetable world. Mother Nature will be impressed!

Temperature is the second secret to success. Most common garden seeds (tomatoes, peppers, flowers) prefer soil temperatures between 70°F and 80°F for optimal germination. While your 68°F home may feel warm, soil temperatures are often 10°F cooler.

Using a waterproof heating pad/mat under your seed trays can boost germination rates from 50% to nearly 100%. I place plastic wrap over the newly planted trays to retain the moisture. Once the green spouts appear, I remove the wrap.

As the plants grow, don’t forget to water! Nothing humbles a gardener faster than a tray of shriveled “could-have-beens” that requires a total restart. If you tend them properly and all goes well, by the time March rolls around, your indoor shelves should be a vibrant, controlled jungle of green.

Indoor seedlings are “hothouse” plants, unaccustomed to real-world sun, wind or wild temperature swings. Without a gradual “hardening off” period (moving them outdoors during the day and back inside before the temperature starts to drop at night), they risk scorched leaves, severe wilting or death.

In our area, gardeners should generally start hardening off seven to 14 days before the last expected frost date, which usually falls in late April to early May. For a deep dive into the when, what and how to plant indoor seeds, check out the University of Minnesota’s guide to seed starting. 

While the indoor method offers control, Winter Sowing offers resilience. This low-cost technique uses recycled translucent milk jugs as mini-greenhouses, protecting seedlings from the harsh Minnesota wind while allowing sunlight in. February is perfect for seeds that require cold stratification (a chilling period to break dormancy). In Zone 4, we still have plenty of “winter” left to give these seeds the 30 to 60 days of cold they need.

This method is the “gold standard” for hardy perennials and native wildflowers like Milkweed, Coneflowers (Echinacea), Joe Pye Weed, Black Eyed Susans (Rudbeckia), Prairie Blazing Star and Lupine. These seeds often require cold stratification (a period of moist, cold conditions) to break dormancy.

By sowing them in milk jugs in February and placing them in a sunny, snowy spot, you allow the natural freeze-thaw cycle to do the hard work for you. Make sure you poke plenty of holes in the bottom. With the heavy snow melts we get in March, your seeds can easily drown without good drainage. If we get a late February blizzard, don’t worry! You can even shovel a little snow over your jugs; it acts as an insulator and provides moisture when it melts.

You can technically winter sow in Minnesota all the way through late March or early April. The only thing that changes is the type of seed. In March, sow “tender” annuals like Marigolds, Cosmos and Zinnias. In early April, sow heat-lovers like tomatoes or peppers (though many Minnesotans still prefer starting these indoors to give them a longer head start).

The greatest advantage of winter sowing is that there is no hardening off. Because these seedlings are born in the elements, they grow up stocky and tough. They won’t wilt the moment they hit the spring wind, saving you the tedious week-long process of moving trays in and out of the garage.

For more details on how to make mini greenhouses out of milk jugs, visit the UMN Extension on Winter Sowing.

By utilizing both methods, you solve the persistent gardener’s problem of limited space and budget. With either method, be sure to create a garden sowing calendar in your garden journal to schedule your seed starting activities.

To calculate your start date, you simply work backward from your frost date using the “Weeks to Transplant” listed on the back of your seed packet. In Carver County, the average last frost date is May 10 to May 15.

Starting now doesn’t just give your plants a head start — it gives you a head start on the sense of joy and anticipation of the season. But if all this seems like too much work, just keep reading your garden magazines and keep dreaming.

For more details, visit the Carver-Scott County Extension Master Gardeners website, Yard & Garden Line: 952-446-5308, or by email: questions@carverscottmg.com.