Starting From Seeds

It’s time to plan our Spring garden. For some gardeners, planning is about all that can be done until the weather warms up. For us, the last frost is expected in mid March or early April. My grandfather, whose real-sized farm was only a few miles from our mini-farm, used to plant corn every two weeks or so starting in the middle of March so that he could harvest corn for celebrations on the 4th of July and on thru the summer. He planted Golden Bantam (as do we) which is ready to harvest about 80 days after planting.

The first decision to make in garden planning is what to grow. All plants are easy to grow if you know how. Our advice is that you grow only what you plan to eat. If you don't eat beets, don't grow them--at least at first (beets are very good for you, by the way). Start with a few things that you consistently buy at the produce market. Tomatoes are the most popular home-grown vegetable, but if you don't eat tomatoes don't grow them. (A tomato is actually a fruit, but defined by the government for tax purposes as a vegetable; see Nix v. Hedden)

Knowing how long your plants need to mature will help you know when to start them in the garden. Seed packets and catalogs usually give the number of days to harvest from the time you transplant the seedling into the garden. So you work backwards from the time you want to harvest your crops, keeping in mind the frost-free date. 

To raise transplants from seed--like tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, etc.--find out how long the seed needs to germinate (also found on the seed packet or in the catalog) along with the number of days or weeks required for the seedling to be ready to transplant (usually four to six weeks). Add these together and using a calendar, work backwards from your frost-free date. 

Organic Gardening Magazine has a chart to help with your calculations here.

Here is our schedule for starting seeds indoors. Our target date for setting out plants is the first week in April (the last expected frost). We'll start planting seeds for:

• Peppers and Eggplant -- 8 to 12 weeks before the last frost. That would be now.
• Lettuce -- 8 to 12 weeks before the last frost. That would be now. Lettuces can be transplanted into the garden a month or so before the last frost.
• Cole crops (Broccoli, Cauliflower, Cabbage) -- 6 to 8 weeks before the last frost. That would be the first part of February. These can be transplanted into the garden two weeks or so before the last frost.
• Tomatoes -- 4 to 6 weeks before the last frost. That would be mid February.
• Cucumbers and Melons -- 2 to 4 weeks before the last frost. That would be the first part of March. These are transplanted out two weeks or more after the last frost. 

We like to grow our plants from seed for at least two reasons. First, we can more easily get seeds for the varieties we want to grow (Pennsylvania Dutch Crookneck Squash, for example). Second, we choose open pollinated and heirloom varieties (not usually available from the nurseries as transplants) so that we can save seeds from year to year. 

However, if you are new to gardening, you may want to wait until the weather warms up and buy plants from the nurseries or garden shops. Nurseries tend to stock only tried-and-true varieties. These will be ready to set out in the garden, are disease resistant, suited to your area, and in most cases will not appear on store shelves until it is time to plant them, give or take a couple of weeks, depending on the weather (frost). If you choose to start seeds, we suggest you start with varieties that germinate easily: basil, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, chives, leeks, lettuce, onions, peppers, and tomatoes. 

Our favorite online seed catalogs:

Seed Savers Exchange http://www.seedsavers.org/

Territorial Seed Company http://www.territorialseed.com/

Both of these offer printed catalogs available upon request. 

Territorial Seed Co. has pretty good online "Growing Guides" for each variety of veggie. Although just about every online or print seed catalog offers information on how to grow various varieties, some have more detailed information than others. Park Seeds (http://parkseed.com/vegetables/c/vegetables/) has on most of their detail pages a "Growing Information" tab that offers planting and growing instructions, tips, special considerations, potential pests and solutions, and so on for each variety.

Our favorite book on starting plants from seed is The New Seed Starter's Handbook by Nancy Bubel. It's main sections include: Starting Seeds Indoors, Moving Plants Outdoors, Special Techniques and Situations, Saving Seeds and Making Further Plans, and an Encyclopedia of Plants to Grow from Seed (the info you need to grow each variety of garden plant). 

Starting Seeds Indoors

1. Gather your materials. Get your seed flats, milk cartons cut in half down the middle, small pots, or what ever it is you're going to plant your seeds in. You'll also need some potting soil or seed starter soil mix (recommended over potting soil), or make your own mix with equal parts sharp sand, peat moss, and perlite or vermiculite.
2. Prepare your work space. Put down some newspaper or other suitable cover on your work surface. You're going to spill some potting soil.
3. Review seed packets and make labels for your plantings. Popsicle sticks, strips cut from plastic milk jugs, ready made labels from the garden store, or simply a label taped on the side of the flat will do. Oh, and don't forget your seeds. If you're new to starting seeds and identifying seedlings, labels are must. If you have lots of garden experience, you'll know that a super-hot pepper plant looks the same as a mild-hot pepper plant. It is very easy to confuse plantings in similar looking flats or pots. Labels are a must.
4. Prepare the medium. Use a watering can or a spray bottle to moisten the potting soil or seed starting mix. It should be damp to the touch but not soggy. If you start with moist soil, you will not have to water your seeds once you after you plant them. There is enough moisture in the soil to sprout the seeds. If you are planting very fine seeds, even the finest mist can dislodge your seeds and cause them all to clump together in the corners and along the edges, making separating the seedlings for replanting difficult if not impossible.



Containers to use for starting seeds indoors. Some ready-
made, some re-purposed.

5. Prepare the containers.  Remember this planting is only temporary. As soon as your seedlings have their second set of leaves, you can move them to individual pots or packs (although you could start with these keeping in mind that they will use more starting mix). Fill your container with moistened starter mix and press it down gently. Top it off and press again so that the mix is within a half inch of the top.  Airflow, and in some cases light, is important to seed germination. A planting surface too far below the rim of the container can interfere with these.
6. Plant the seeds. If you're using a small container (like the bottom two inches of a plastic milk jug), you can scatter the seeds over the entire surface of the planting medium. If you're using a nursery flat, you can place the seeds on the surface in rows, spacing the seeds according to size (tiny seeds at least an eighth of an inch apart, medium seeds a half inch, and large seeds an inch). Remember that you are going to be transplanting the seedlings later. Separating the roots of seedlings planted too close together can be difficult if not impossible without damaging the plant. If you're using a pack with cells, put a couple of seeds in each cell. The extras can be thinned later by snipping them off with small scissors.
7. Cover the seeds. Except for the very finest seeds or those few varieties that need light to germinate (the seed packet or catalog will tell) which can simply be pressed into the medium, the seeds will need to be covered with more starting medium. A general rule of thumb is to cover the seed to a depth 3 to 4 times its size. For example, a seed that is one-eighth inch in size would be covered with three-eighths to one-half inches of cover. We tend to stay toward the shallower depth when starting seeds indoors. This cover layer of mix or vermiculite does not need to be wet. It will absorb water from the moist layer below. You will not have to water your seeds until after they sprout. There will be plenty of moisture available for them.
8. Cover the container. If you're using ready-made seed starting trays, put the covers on and your seeds are ready to go. If you're using re-purposed containers, you can place a piece of damp newspaper or burlap over the surface of your container. Or (our favorite), you can slip the whole container into a plastic bag, or use a plastic sheet (trash bag), tucking the edges under your container. You could possibly use aluminum foil, but we have never tried this. Clear plastic allows you to see what is happening without letting out the moisture around your seeds.
9. Put the container in a warm place. Your seeds have moisture and they will need warmth to germinate. Put the covered container in a warm place, but keep it out of the sun! You don't want to steam your seeds or new seedlings. The top of the fridge might be a good place. Near the stove in the kitchen. A shelf over the dryer in the laundry room or a shelf near the water heater. We've sprouted seedlings on the dining room table and on the patio table (in warm weather). Most seeds will sprout more quickly at temperatures between about 72 and 86 degrees, but have a good germination rate at around 70. In other words, a comfortable temperature for you will be good for your seeds.
10. Watch and wait. As soon as most of the seedlings emerge, they will need their plastic tent removed and to be moved to a sunny place, not necessarily in direct sunlight at first. In a future post, we'll talk about what happens next.