Seed Starting Part I
- Feb, 21 2012
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When I first started this blog I shared that I wanted it to inspire both you and myself, and I also shared that I find joy in imperfections. This post is a mix of both of those things, as I am sharing something that totally inspires me (gardening), but something that I don’t have very much experience at, which could lead to imperfections, or learning! One thing I love about gardening is that no matter how much experience one has at gardening, we are always learning by mistake, triumph, and unexpected situations. God sure allows mother nature to keep us guessing!
So, I figured I would let you in on the journey of my first time trying to grow vegetables from seeds. Those of you who are novice gardeners like me will learn as we go, and those green thumbs out there can feel free to share your tips! I am a basic kind of gal, so I like to use what I have around the house and let nature do it’s thing.
One thing I found to be very helpful was a garden calendar. If you have never started seeds before you might be shocked that I am even talking about starting seeds already, but that’s just proof of how these things sneak up on you and how beneficial a gardening calendar would be! I made this calendar based on my learning style and personal application, but you can use it to give you ideas if you want to modify yours even more. For me, this was the most difficult part of the process since I am not a numbers person, but it is well worth it. Once you get past the headache, your journey will be so much smoother. Here are the steps I went through to make my calendar work.
Step 1.
Find out your predicted “last frost date” using the links below, and mark it on your calendar. Mine was the first week in May, so if you are using my calendar and you have a different last frost date, make sure you change it on the calendar.
Step 2.
Grab your seed packets and look at the back. There should be guidelines of when to plant your seeds outside. Ex: “Plant out when danger of frost has passed”. Mark that date on your gardening calendar, “Transfer seeds outdoors”.
Step 3.
Looking at your seed packet, see if it says you can start your seeds indoors. If you can, it should say how many weeks before last frost to start your seeds indoors. Starting on the week you marked in step #2, count back the number of weeks listed on your seed packet to start the seeds indoors. For example, in step #2, I marked the first week in May to start seeds outdoors. My seed packet indicated to count back 6 weeks before that date to start my seeds indoors (the 3rd week in March). Mark that date on your calendar, “Start seeds indoors”.
Step 4.
Still looking at your seed packet, it should indicate how many days from transplant it will take to harvest. For example, mine said 75 days from transplant, so I counted 2.5 months from step #2, my “transfer seeds outdoors” mark on my calendar; therefore, I would begin to harvest during the second week of July. Mark this date “Begin harvest” on your calendar.
Use discernment to balance these dates. The weather might tell you to do these steps sooner or later, so have some flexibility. If you are a visual person you can check the example on my calendar template to help you.
Along with a garden calendar, here are the other tools I used:
~Seeds dated for this year. I ordered my organic seeds from seed savers exchange. This was a pretty neat experience because they give you descriptions about the seeds and some of them date back 100 years or more! My favorite name was the “Lazy Housewife Bean“, named in 1810 because it was the first snap bean that didn’t need to have the string removed. Did lazy housewives even exist in 1810?
~Empty egg cartons
~Organic potting soil
~Misting Spray Bottle
~Plastic bags
~Gumption
Next I got my hands dirty! Here is how I started my seeds:
Step 1.
Gather your egg cartons. Puncture a hole in the bottom of each slot for drainage. Tear off the tops and use them under the cartons as trays.
Step 2.
Open up your potting mix and seed packets.
Step 3.
Pour the potting mix into your egg cartons and level off the tops.
Step 4.
Grab a pen and label what seeds are going where. You don’t want to leave this one up to your photographic memory. Take the end of your pen & press a well into the soil the depth indicated on the back of your seed packet. Mine all needed to be 1/4″ deep. Drop 1-2 seeds into each well.
Step 5.
Give your seeds a good misting with the spray bottle. They should be soaked but not dripping.
Step 6.
Take your plastic bag and wrap it around the egg cartons. This will help provide humidity to the seedlings as they germinate and grow.
Wondering how I got these rugged hunky forearms? No need to fear, the hairy muscular helper in this photo is my hubby, not me, hehe.
Step 7.
Check on seedlings daily and mist as needed.
I feel like I should add a disclaimer here…the content found here is strictly for entertainment purposes and should not be entered into with any expectation or investment purposes. Lol, especially considering the type of wet, soggy summer we had here in the Pacific Northwest last year. Nothing grew. But I have hope! And if nothing else, at least I can look back on this and laugh, knowing that I learned, was inspired and found beauty in the imperfections along the way. What a beautiful journey life is. So jump in with me, get your hands dirty and try to grow your own veggies from seeds! You will still have the elation of a kindergartner when you see that first sprout coming up! Yeeehawwww!
