Our how-to for using milk and water jugs to create your own planters to sow seeds in the snow. Yes, you can start sowing seeds now, even if you're snowed in, and be rewarded with hardy vegetables and flowers in the summer.
To start, make a greenhouse. You can use just about any recyclable container for a greenhouse, as long as light can penetrate its walls. Gallon-size milk and water jugs are ideal.
Because winter-sown seeds will be watered by snow, sleet, and rain, the jug container will need drainage holes, and lots of them.
Start by turning your container upside down, and punch about 15 holes through its base. Also, punch holes about a half-inch above the base, about three holes per side.
I find the easiest way to make openings in a plastic container is with a red-hot Phillips screwdriver, heated over a gas flame at the stove. If you don't have a gas cook-top, heat the screwdriver with a culinary torch. Otherwise, use an electric drill for your hole-making.