Seed Starting Time

It's that time of year again when the weather still feels like winter, but spring isn't too far away.  The sun is arriving earlier and setting a few minutes later each day and the air doesn't feel as cold as it did a month ago.  Now is the time of year that I start to get my garden ready for the planting season that is just around the corner.  I don't start a ton of my crops indoors, but I will give things like celery, broccoli, peppers and tomatoes a head start on spring.  I do try to plant according to the moon cycle because although I am not terribly superstitious, it couldn't hurt to give some credence to an "old wives tale".  Planting by the moon says that crops that you harvest from above the ground should be planted during the time that the moon is waxing, starting just after a new moon.  This years garden was started on February 4th and the things I choose to start this month were my peppers (Jalapeno, Spanish Mammoth, and Paprika), celery (Tendercrisp), broccoli (Goliath), cabbage (Red Acre, Premium Flat Dutch), Oregano, Cumin, and Thyme.  The brassicas will go out as soon as the weather warms a little and I plan to plant them under cover in early April if they are big enough.  Next month I will start the tomatoes and tomatillos as those seem to grow fairly fast

My growing set up is fairly small as I only need to start a few dozen plants for my garden each year.  It consists of a few shelving units and some small, cheap grow lights that I have bought over several years.  It represents an investment of a few hundred dollars, but it should last for a very long time and the light bulbs will be the only upkeep cost for me.  I keep the lights on a timer and use clear plastic bins to hold all my seedling pots.  The pots themselves I have saved from year to year and I got many of them for free out of a nursery's recycle bins.  With the initial investments out of the way, starting seeds each year has become a very cost effective endeavor.  I only need to buy the seed and the potting soil and the rest just takes time and attention.  Considering how much it costs to buy seedlings at the store or nursery I think I have made a worthy investment.

I have started my seedlings this way for the last several years and every year I get better results.  Growing my own seedlings has taught me the importance of timing and spacing and it has also taught me that sometimes things won't work out the way you planned.  Every year is a new experiment in growing plants and every year teaches me something different.  Every seed that is planted holds the promise of new life and hope for another warm growing season ahead.