It's That Time Again... Garden Joy!

Oh yeah!
Time for starting some seeds!

This is all way simpler than you might think.

I'm gonna show you how I set up my seed starting operation.... and you've still got time to get the stuff you need and start your own!!!



It's cheap and easy, and verrrry rewarding!!


What you need:

*Some sort of seed starter container- these came from Walmart for around 5 bucks.

*Seed starting medium--NOT soil or dirt.  It's "soil-less"  (It comes in a bag right next to the other stuff)  I'm gonna call it dirt from here on just to keep it simple.

*Seeds.

*Christmas lights.

*Shop lights.

*Something to hang them on.

*Water.

It's easiest if you mix the dirt-like stuff with warm water in a big plastic bin before filling up the container.  It takes quite a while to get it to absorb water.  Keep mixing.
Fill up all the cells level.  Follow the directions on your seed packets on how to sow them.  Usually 2-3 seeds per square.  I use a pencil eraser to make a little dent in the middle.  Lightly cover with the dirt stuff.  Cover your containers with the clear plastic lids and then some newspaper to keep them dark and set them on the bunched up lights.  Keep the lights on continuously until the seeds sprout.  Lightly mist the dirt and be sure to keep it moist until the seeds sprout.

Once they sprout, remove the Christmas lights, uncover them and set up your fluorescent lights a few inches above the plants.  You'll need to keep adjusting the height as the plants grow taller.  (The flat in the front hasn't sprouted yet.)  We built these little stands out of PVC pipe and hung cheapo shop lights with adjustable chain/wire hangers.  At this point, you can water them from below by pouring the water directly into the tray that holds the little cell containers.

The baby plants need constant water, but do best if their lights are turned off at night.  Be sure to keep them in a warm place in your house... not the cold basement or garage.

They'll start to grow toward the lights in a matter of days, so it's important to rotate the flats regularly to keep them from growing crooked.  Also, keeping the lights close to the leaves helps the plants to grow stockier, since they're not straining to reach the light.

I'll be setting mine up this weekend.... so, I'll add more details as I go along.  The important thing here is that you see how totally EASY this is!!  If you're planning on having 5 or 50 tomato plants in your garden, you'll be so much prouder if you started them from scratch!

OK, so, this week I'm starting tomatoes and peppers inside.
Peas and spinach are being planted outside...
That's the plan, at least.

Happy Friday!  Have a great weekend!