Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Frugal Gardening: Indoor Seed-Starting

This will be our second year attempting to grow a vegetable garden.  Last year, we tried and started really late (in June & July).  We had an abundance of green beans and cucumbers and we even got a couple of zucchini and a few ears of corn.  I am really excited about planting another garden.  I've borrowed a book from the library - Lasagna Gardening - which is fantastic.  My only problem?  I jumped ahead, before I had read the book, and tried to layer the garden.  I didn't layer it properly.  That's what I get!  Oh well, lesson learned.  Some of my friends are interested in gardening too.  I've shared this book with them and hopefully they will also benefit from it.  (Did you know worm castings are better than cow manure!?! I didn't even know what she was talking about until after I read the chapter.  Very informative!)

Last year, I had read a tutorial about starting seeds indoor at Renee's Garden.  Once we tested our seeds, we knew which ones would be okay for planting.  I went to Walmart and purchased a peat moss pellet seed starting kit for $6.  I read in the Month-By-Month Gardening in the South book, that we need to start tomato seeds indoor in the second half of February.  So I figured February 15th was our start date.  

Haylei wet the pellets according to the directions and then we waited for them to swell up.  That took forever!  (I'm so impatient!) 

Then we pulled back the netting and leveled out the peat moss

And then sprinkled 3 seeds into the peat pellets and covered them over

I taped the seed packets to the front of the rows I planted the seeds in (just to keep track of what I planted)

I can't wait to see how they grow...(there's that impatience again)

Hopefully in about 30 days, we'll be ready for transplanting to a larger pot and then they'll be ready for the ground a few weeks later.

Enjoy!

***UPDATE*** Read this post about the progress.

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8 comments:

Susie said...

That is so awesome!! I wish for you a healthy and happy gardening experience this year!!

Candi said...

Thanks Susie! I'm so glad you "taught" us how to test the seeds, it helped to know which ones would grow and which ones would be a waste of time! :)

Rachel said...

Thanks for the reminder! Is it that time of year already?!?

Coupon Teacher said...

I want to do a mixture of seeds and plants this year. I better get started soon!

No I wasn't Sleeping said...

Wow, our zone doesn't start for like another 6 weeks. WE can still have snow in April...

Melissa said...

Great pictures! Can't wait to see them grow!

Kari said...

I came over from 5Dollar Dinners where you left a comment about lasagna gardening. I am starting my first garden this year, but have no idea how to start. When I saw your comment, I googled "lasagna gardening" and found a little info on the method. I am really excited about it. No digging up grass???!!!! So, I think I'm going to go ahead and order the book and try her method so thanks for posting that! Also, enjoyed your post about starting seeds:)

Amy @ Finer Things said...

This will be my third year for a garden, but I've given up and buy the starters. I just haven't figured out how to grow seeds. They always end up tall and spindly. Then they die immediately when I take them outside.

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