Seed starting is one of those things that a lot of people think is harder than it really is. It does take a little planning but it’s so rewarding in the end, not to mention money saving in the long run!

First- your supplies. You’ll need:

• Seed starting medium. You’ll want a soil-less mix for this, either store-bought or home-made
• Something to plant your seeds in. I like to use peat pots, but I also use old egg cartons, yoghurt cups, and cut-down juice containers
• Warm water in a spray-bottle
• Something to label your seedlings with. I like to use an old juice carton, but you can use popsicle sticks or similar
• Waterproof trays to hold your seedlings
• Seeds!

You’ll either want to work outside, or protect your work area with newspaper as this can get a bit messy.

You’ll want to start off by getting your seed starting mix to the proper consistency. You’ll want to add water to your mix a little bit at a time and mix well. Since seed-starting mixes are soil-less and often peat based, they can take a bit of coaxing to absorb the water.

Don’t drench it- you just want it damp. The mix should clump together when squeezed, but not feel soaked. Once your mix is ready, you can go ahead and fill the cells or pots into which you’ll be planting your seeds. This is a good time to put those little pots and cells into their waterproof trays too, as once they are filled with damp mix they can sometimes get floppy.

Once your little pots are filled, gently tamp the mix down. Don’t press hard, just a light tap to even out the surface and make sure you don’t have huge air pockets. You want the mix to still be light and airy so the little seed roots can get down in there without too much effort.

Next, double check your planting guide or seed packets to determine what you should be starting now, and what needs to wait. I use a combination of Clyde’s Garden Planner and the information of my individual seed packets. Some things I will start a bit earlier too if I want to make sure I can squeeze out a few more succession plantings, but that’s just my personal thing. If this is your first time starting seeds, I’d follow your seed packets and guides.

Now it’s time to actually plant those seeds! Depending on what you’re planting you’ll probably want to put anywhere from one to four seeds per container. With plants that I know germinate well and have a good history of producing strong seedlings I’ll put in just one seed. Most things I plant get about three seeds per cell, and I thin my seedlings later on. Once you’ve seeded your containers- don’t forget to label them! I prefer sticking in actual physical labels to keeping a list elsewhere. I label each row, or if using individual containers I’ll label each container. After your labels are in, give each pot a little sprinkling of mix atop your seeds. Not a thick sprinkling- just 1/4 inch or so. Give your pots a little spritz of warm water.

If your trays came with a greenhouse cover- now is the time to put that on. If they didn’t don’t worry- you can just as easily use plastic wrap to loosely cover the plants until they sprout. You’ll want to pour a small amount of water into the bottom of your trays if you’re using peat-pots, approximately 1/4-1/2 inch deep, and check them regularly as they do dry out faster than plastic containers.

If you have radiators for heat in your home, as I do, you can do what I do to warm your seeds. If not- the top of the ‘fridge is a great place to put them while they germinate. It is possible to purchase seed warming pads, but I personally don’t feel like shelling out for something when I’ve got a working system already. I put down a towel or a few trivets, and set my seed trays atop that on my radiators. It works like a charm for me, and my seeds germinate beautifully.

Once your seedlings have sprouted and their seed leaves are showing, it’s time to pop them under some grow-lights. A shop-light fixture with two fluorescent tubes works beautifully. I prefer using one cool-white and one warm-white tube, though I know plenty of folk who use special plant growing tubes. I tend to use whatever I have leftover from last year, or what I found at the local garage sales from old aquariums. Hanging your light over the plants via a chain allows you to keep the light consistently just a few inches above their heads as they grow. Wire-mesh shelves work in a pinch for holding your grow-light as well.

I’ll check back in once my seedlings really get going, and I’ll go over hardening off your seedlings to plant them out in the garden once we get a bit closer to that time. Hopefully this helped you understand how easy seed-starting can be, and piques your interest if not for this season, perhaps next season to start some of your own seeds.

I’d like your advice on a few things regarding gardening. I’ve secured at least one plot at a nearby community garden that’s in a raised bed 3.5/ft wide and probably 15 feet long. I’m so excited about it!

I picked up Square Foot Gardening and it seems like I can do pretty well with three square foot rows going the length of the raised bed. I still need to spend a couple hours out there and see what the sun does–I have a feeling, though, that we’ll have some issues with it being too shady.

I was wondering what you might suggest growing for a first-timer. Should I go all-out and try to grow three seasons spring, summer, fall? When’s the earliest I can start in this climate and what crops should I choose? Finally, I was just reading your post about heirloom varieties and the health benefits and such, and I’m wondering if you have a favored mail-order source for great seeds.

Just want to make sure I’m ahead of the game before the season is suddenly upon us!

Blake [The Paupered Chef]

Congrats on your new gardening plot! Community gardens are great ways for those of us who live in the concrete jungle to still have healthy, local, inexpensive produce. I’ve been lucky the past few years, having rented in a house with a patch of grass in which I grew tomatoes, broccoli, and the odd pepper. Now that we’ve moved into our new house with a full yard I’m rather excited to be able to resume the type of growing I grew up with.

You’re starting off on the right foot. A good gardening book is always handy. I have a whole shelf full. Square Foot Gardening is my suggestion for anyone who is an urban gardener or is working with a small space. With the Square Foot Gardening method you can even garden if you only have a paved patio and no grass space!

You’ll want to check the sun patterns where you are planning your garden. Most vegetables need long hours of sunlight to produce their best. You can make do with less sun, but you’ll get fewer and smaller vegetables. You’ll want to keep in mind the sun patterns over the various areas of your garden if it’s a long-skinny plot. Plant the sun-loving veggies such as tomatoes in the sunniest area, and put those plants likely to bolt, lettuces and other cool-temperature veggies in your shadier areas.

For first-time gardeners I suggest only trying for a single crop season with some light succession planting of lettuces. This won’t mean that your garden will produce everything all at once. Everything has a different period of maturity. Your squash and melons will take a while to fully mature, whereas your lettuces with be in and out pretty quickly. Generally, planting in the late-spring for a summer crop is the best bet for beginners. You’ll have a mix of hardy and tender plants to care for, and a bit less unpredictability in the weather. To determine exactly when you should start planting your transplants and seeds you’ll want to determine your hardiness zone. Many seed packets will say when to plant them or when to start them indoors based on your hardiness zone. Other seed packets and nurseries will go by the date of last frost. This date is the average when your garden will be safe from deep killing frosts. To determine the date of last frost you can either keep track on your calendar for a number of years or you can check some of the handy charts out there such as Clyde’s Garden Planner. Clyde conveniently keeps the list of last- and first-frost dates online, as do many seed companies and gardening websites. You can always contact your local USDA co-operative extension office for information on your zone, frost dates, as well as for soil testing.

With the information on your hardiness zone and your frost dates, you’re ready to start looking for your plants. This is when you decide if you’re going to start your seeds indoors, or buy seedlings either via mail-order or from your local nursery. Seed starting is fun, cheaper in the long-run, but a little bit trickier than buying seedlings. It’s nothing to be afraid of though. I start my own seeds, and my seeds generally come from Seed Savers Exchange, purveyors of heirloom vegetable and some fruit seeds. I find that most varieties which Seed Savers carries are suitable for my area, though most vegetables will grow throughout the U.S. just with differing care requirements. Seed companies are very knowledgeable about the varieties they supply. So feel free to contact them with hardiness questions.

When choosing what to grow, the first thing to remember is: only grow vegetables that you will eat. If you don’t like zucchini then don’t grow it! I see plenty of first-time gardeners growing tomatoes and zucchini because they think they have to, even though they detest eating them. Tomatoes, lettuce, peppers, strawberries, beans, and peas are all good choices for a first garden. I plan the number of varieties and the number of plants in each variety to grow based on my intended usage. I’m a big tomato eater, and I do a lot of canning of tomato products, so I grow both paste/sauce tomatoes and steak tomatoes in abundance. I’ve never had too many tomatoes in my garden. I like to grow a number of varieties in each category when I can, though this isn’t always cost-effective for me. I do try to save seed, but sometimes it just doesn’t work out.

For an expanded list of garden planning resources including books, charts, and seed suppliers, check out the resources page.