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. ...

People who garden in small plots usually find themselves with seeds left over at the end of the season. 

It's a good idea to have some extra seeds on hand when you're planting, just in case you need to replant. But once the planting window for a particular crop is over, you may find an extra half packet or more remaining.

So what do you do with those seeds? 

Last Year's Seeds

There's nothing wrong with keeping your extra...

Can you grow seeds from the produce you get at the grocery store?

The short answer is yes.

If the answer were that simple, this would be the end of my blog post. Let's think about it for a minute. 

Yes, you can grow from your grocery store fruits and vegetables, but should you?

Oh, I hate to be a party pooper!

If you're expecting gardening success, growing a bountiful crop of fruits or vegetables with the free seeds from...

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...

I'm a little surprised I haven't gotten any seed catalogs yet. I mean... it's December and everything seems to get pushed earlier and earlier every year.  Seed catalogs traditionally show up the last week of December through early January.

Have you received any in the mail yet?

Here are some catalogs I particularly like. Why not follow a link, join the mailing list, and try a new seed company?

Johnny's Selected Seeds

Request their...

Many community gardens are set up as organic gardens. 

At first glance, organic gardening seems pretty straight-forward - don't use any synthetic or man-made supplies in your garden. As they say, "the devil is in the details," and when you start to work on your garden plot, things can get a little confusing.

Let's talk a bit about what it means to garden organically. 

Fertilizers

You must choose fertilizers labeled as...

I received my seeds in the mail a few weeks ago and I can't wait to get started!

This spring (2020) I'll probably get out to the plot and start preparing it for planting about the first two weekends in April (in 2020 it's April 4 and April 11.)

I'm planning to plant my seeds on or about April 11. 

Favorites

Listed below are some of my favorites. I like them because they're easy to grow and consistently produce, year after...