Seed Starting: My How-to for Beginning Your Own Veggie Garden Indoors (And Fingers Crossed It Works!)

Five days ago, I began my tomato seeds. I may have jumped the gun a bit. But I am banking on our spring to come earlier this year, just like the groundhog said it would. Just like the fur on my dogs is saying it will. (It is shedding time here. Dog Hair: Don't Leave Home without It.)

Here are my tomato seedlings this morning. Wow! I am like a proud mama--their little necks are just beginning to peek out. I'll need to get them under lights asap. I pray I won't kill them.

In May you may plant what you want. This is a famous, well-known gardener's saying. May seems like an eternity away from today. However, in about four weeks, about the same time every year, I begin to panic. This year, trying to quell the mania, I thought I'd start my own tomatoes, peppers and eggplants indoors. Why only these veggies? Well, honestly, most everything else can be sowed right into the ground as soon as our last frost day passes--the growing and harvest time for many other veggies falls within our five month growing calendar. Funny thing was, last year, I had green peppers on my plants in November. Strange. (Some say we have a six month growing calendar, but I know it gets darn cold in October--so I say five months). In our zone 5 region, that last frost is about April 19th or so--give or take (famous last words for gardening freaks like me). So depending on the weather, this will be right after the hummingbirds arrive, which usually is about tax time.

Soil temperature plays a big role in seed germination--so direct seed sowing planting times could swing way past April 19th. Corn growers use soil temperatures to determine when to plant their seed. You can just Google for soil temperatures by state and a map will pop up. Or you could take your own soil's temperature with a cooking thermometer--just be sure to wash it really well after. Plus, you want to plant all the veggie seeds that grow above ground as the moon is going from its new moon stage to full moon stage. Veggies that grow below ground are planted from the day after it is full, to its new moon stage. It's not that complicated, think about it.

I am trying to get a head start on tomatoes because in the past I've found I was close to needing to take another mortgage out on the house just to pay for my tomato growing addiction. To avoid getting caught up in the "Oh-my-god-that-casper-white-heirloom-tomato-sounds-so-fun-I-must-grow-that" (and did not see a single tomato from this plant last year) and BAM, five dollars is spent on one plant, I went the seed route. Now, am I guaranteed to have tomato plants that survive my seed starting? No. But just knowing that I gave it my best shot is sure to keep my impulse tomato-buying in check.  

About now, I begin making "lists". These lists stay on my kitchen table through about June. Items crossed off only until I feel "completion" has been adequately met. I'll realize that soon, very soon, I will be faced with the task of deciding what veggie plants go where in my garden (crop rotation), how much more of my yard can be converted into a mound of "plants" vs. grass, and how in the heck I'll keep the deer from destroying all of my hard won planting. (Dr. Thyme has this on his "honey-do" list.) My hand wringing has officially begun.

This weekend I will be taking an all-day class at our Botanical Garden on growing food stuffs. I signed up for: an organic gardening lecture, on being a chef from your garden, on growing berries and one on preserving your harvest. Even though I've reached Master Gardener status, I still have much to learn. Gardening is a humbling experience and a life long learning experience as well.  

Like all well-intended gardening beginnings, it seems all of my note taking and lists and such fly out the window once May kicks off. Why? Because I will have turned into "one of those" ladies that shows up every morning, hat on head, sunscreen slathered on so thick I resemble a Noxzema commercial, hand to chin, contemplating which tree, shrub, perennial I'd like to covet today. 

So today, I thought I'd share with you my tomato seedlings. Here's the deal on planting tomato seeds. Just do it. That's all. Get yourself a cute little seed starter tray from Walmart (they run about five bucks). Follow the directions for adding water, allowing the growing medium to expand, then wait a bit, then carefully place the baby seeds in the growing medium--not too deep. The rule of thumb on seed planting is that the seed size determines the depth. I literally just laid my seeds on the medium, the gently tapped a bit of the growing medium over them. Then, cover and place the tray out of direct sun light. I put my seed try on top of our kitchen fridge. This seemed to be perfect for the guys. And I am staggering my planting because I don't have two fridges. Today, I will start my peppers and eggplants and maybe leeks. 

Seeds don't need light to germinate. They need light AFTER they've poked their little heads out. They need a constant temperature of about 65 degrees or so for germination. This is what we keep our house at. I know, but hey, I'm Almost Fifty and my internal temp right now swings on the sweltering nearly daily! (I'm my own built-in furnace.) Then we get into the "grow light" stage and I'll post more on that later.  

For purchasing seeds, I went with Burpee seeds this year. A gardening friend told me Kmart had seeds on sale for 40% off. It's a great deal. However, if you wait much longer, the sales will be gone because retailers will know the gardening bug will force many into paying full price for seeds. Walmart has seeds on sale for a buck. But I went with their brand last year and I was not impressed with the outcome. I may have hedged my bets on weather a little soon also. I don't mail order my seeds. Well, haven't yet. I get the seed catalogs in the mail and my ADD sets in, I cannot possibly concentrate on all the options and end up throwing them away. Perhaps another time in my life I will want to spend countless hours weighing the seed ordering options. For now, I'd rather walk in the store, look at the pretty display and then decide what I'd like to grow. Meantime, I'll be posting along the way on my progress and failures as I try to grow my little veggie garden from scratch. Wish me luck!