Winter sowing mishaps

Steep learning curve this winter for sure, but I'm going to share my mistakes so that you maybe don't make them.

I don't remember if I've mentioned it, but I was doing a variation of winter sowing- plastic bins, side ventilation holes and a few drainage holes BUT no large opening for snow/rain to enter. There's a reason for this. I get a lot of snow where my bins are covered and then freeze/thaw cycles lock the bin in place so that I cannot access them. The problem is that the drainholes are covered by ice so that when the snow melts on top, the bottom is still shaded and insulated so that there are inches of water in the bin with no way for the water to escape. Most of my bins didn't have a way for snow to enter in large amounts. However, in a few bins I did drill a set of half inch holes for rain/snow to enter in the lids. AND they did what I knew they were going to do. The drainholes got blocked with ice and then the bins filled with water when the snow melted. All my pots ended up upended from floating in inches of water and there's just a slurry of seed starting mix and mixed seeds at the bottom of the bin. Granted, some will probably still germination, but it will be awhile before I can sort out what is what. Not ideal.

Basically, if you get enough snow that you cannot access your winter sowing containers, you maybe want to think about how your container will drain once the drain holes are blocked with ice. Anyhow, I only had a few bins like that, so I have a few bins that are just a slurry at the bottom that may or may not germinate.

Whenever it's above freezing, I just pop my bins open and add a bit of water in any that are looking dry. I can do this because my bins are on my porch instead. Because I'm not relying on snow or rain, I can keep the bins on my open air but covered porch. It's a lot more convenient even though I have to add water myelf instead of relying on weather to do it.

The next setback was wind. Because I'm using larger bins, they are less aerodynamic and more prone to getting pushed around a bit by wind. In an attempt to clean up the porch, my spouse had stacked some bins 4 high to make it look neater. Unfortunately, then we had 35 mph winds and a stack of bins went flying. Once again, I have a mix of seeds and potting soil and empty pots as well as broken bins. Not ideal. It would seem the magic number so far this year has been a stack no higher than two bins. 

In all, I have 7 bins of wildly mixed seeds. 

The other bins are doing well. We are 26 degrees tonight, so not warm at all. But there is some germination starting in the hardiest bins- poppies, broccoli, hollyhocks and similar. I did not winter sow anything that wasn't frost hardy, so I don't have to move anything inside or under cover. 

Despite the setbacks, it looks like I will likely have more plants than I can use anyways.