It's winter and gardeners are starting to get impatient. Winter has only been around 1 month, but we want to get out in the garden. The seed catalogs are tempting us...

What's the next best thing...? Starting seeds indoors!

Is it time to start my seeds?

It's January, and for most common garden crops in the US, no it's not time yet!

I'm oversimplifying of course, but hear me out.

Don't just start seeds without doing a few simple calculations. ...

Most seed packets provide a few basic guidelines for planting. How far deep should I plant the seeds? How far apart should I plant these seeds for them to grow well?

Here's a typical seed packet back with a small table containing planting guidelines:

What it doesn't tell you is that there's an underlying assumption on how your garden is laid out. Their guidelines aren't very helpful if you aren't planting in that way.

The...

This time of year everyone gets over-excited and wants to start seeds. Right. Now.

Hold your horses. Make sure you know what you're doing. 

I consider starting seeds indoors to be an "intermediate" level skill, and I don't really recommend it for beginners. 

If you've never done it before, beware of beginner mistakes. You run the risk of spending a lot of money, time, and effort and not producing the lovely little transplants...

Starter plants can really help your garden produce quickly! These little individual plants have been growing for a few weeks at the greenhouse, and they're ready for you to buy and plant in your garden. They've successfully made it past the vulnerable sprouting process and are strong, healthy young plants, ready to mature and produce. 

There are pro's and con's to using starter plants, which I discuss in this article: Seeds vs....