An Early Start

You can get an early start on your garden by growing plants from seeds, and starting them indoors. Anyone who reads much about gardening knows that. I have found that for me, it takes about two weeks from planting the seedlings to having a beautiful garden.

Gardening wisdom says to start your seeds indoors about 6 weeks before the last frost in your area. For me, that means I need to be thinking about planting seeds around Christmas and New Year's, and I am usually not thinking much about my garden right then. So I end up planting my seeds mid-January, figuring that I will still get a head start on having a thriving garden.

I have already chosen what I want to grow in my garden - everything! Oh yes, I don't quite have room for everything, so I pare it down a little bit. I'll just grow tomatoes, squash, cucumbers, melons, peas, onions, potatoes.......... uh oh, I'm pretty much back to everything!

The next step is choosing my seedling containers. I could use the little peat pellets, that swell up when you add water. Or I could buy a special seed tray, complete with specially formulated seed starting soil and a "greenhouse" lid. There is also the special tool used to shape newspaper into seedling pots. Just plant them right in the ground, and your plant's roots will grow right through them. Or, think recycling, and use "found" containers - yogurt cups, butter tubs, and things like that. Someone even suggests just saving paper cups from your latest dinner, and using those.

Then you need to think about where to grow your seedlings. The most recommended place in my readings has been to place them on top of the refrigerator, where they will get some added warmth and be close to the light.

So I gather up my containers; this year I am using yogurt cups, since I have tried everything else. I fill them with soil - regular soil, since I have tried all the recommended seedling soils in the past with the same results. I water them, place them on the fridge, and wait.

Day 1: Nothing
Day 2: Nothing
Day 3: Nothing
Day 4: Aren't these plants growing yet!
Day 5: Nothing
Day 6: I forget to look
Day 7: Yay! Little tiny seedlings are poking their heads through!
Day 8: What are these long spindly white things growing in my containers? The stems are about 2 inches long, with tiny leaves on the top.
Day 9: 3 inches, no new leaves.
Day 10: The leaves are gone. My cat chewed them off.
Day 11: Throw away the whole mess!
Day 12: Head to the local nursery to look for plants I can transplant into my garden!
Day 13: Plant the new plants in my garden. Water. Enjoy