Gardening Tales
How To Grow A Vegetable Garden From Seeds
January 17, 2018
Did you know that there is a budding gardener in all of us? With a little planning and gardening knowledge we can all be successful gardeners! I don't believe in "brown thumbs," and you shouldn't either! In this post I am going to ignite the gardener in you and show you how to choose seeds, containers, make your own potting mix and sprout seeds for your Spring and Summer Garden! Growing our own food and flowers is fun!
Before we can begin to plant our seeds indoors, we must know when our last frost is in our particular region of the country. If you are reading this and you live in the U.S. here is a great guide for you to follow. It Is the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map. General Rule of thumb for planting seeds indoors is to plant them 6-8 weeks before the last Frost.
I have been gardening since I was a kid. It was a natural fit for me as I watched my parents plant potatoes and wheat on the 100 acres of land on our Farm. So when it came time to put the vegetable and flower gardens in, I wanted my own packet of seeds! Our kitchen table was filled with seed catalogs once January rolled around and of course since old habits die hard, today our kitchen table looks the same way.
Since we are in the dead of Winter in the U.S. this is the perfect time to begin preparing, reading, outlining and deciding on what you really want to grow! Dreaming of gardening this time of the year actually helps to chase away those Winter blues too.
Before purchasing seeds, let's think this all through. There is more to sprouting seeds than just tossing them in some soil. I want you to be super successful so I am going to give you a step by step overview of how to go about all of this. Don't fret! I will be continuing this garden series all throughout the year and sharing gardening tips a few times each month to guide you along the way.
You have done your research, made your purchases and now your green thumb is itching to get to work! Today I am sharing with you a step by step guide on how to plant seeds indoors. Plus a homemade Seedling Potting Mix Recipe for your seedlings or you can purchase your own.
Thank you for joining me today as we work together to create a home and garden through our talents, gifts, hands and hearts!
Next segment in our series we will discuss Hardening Off and Transplanting our seedlings.
Johnny Seeds
Park Seeds Certified Organic
Grow Organic.com
Burpee Seed Company
Fifty Of The Best Gardening Books
Before we can begin to plant our seeds indoors, we must know when our last frost is in our particular region of the country. If you are reading this and you live in the U.S. here is a great guide for you to follow. It Is the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map. General Rule of thumb for planting seeds indoors is to plant them 6-8 weeks before the last Frost.
I have been gardening since I was a kid. It was a natural fit for me as I watched my parents plant potatoes and wheat on the 100 acres of land on our Farm. So when it came time to put the vegetable and flower gardens in, I wanted my own packet of seeds! Our kitchen table was filled with seed catalogs once January rolled around and of course since old habits die hard, today our kitchen table looks the same way.
Since we are in the dead of Winter in the U.S. this is the perfect time to begin preparing, reading, outlining and deciding on what you really want to grow! Dreaming of gardening this time of the year actually helps to chase away those Winter blues too.
Before Purchasing Seeds
Before purchasing seeds, let's think this all through. There is more to sprouting seeds than just tossing them in some soil. I want you to be super successful so I am going to give you a step by step overview of how to go about all of this. Don't fret! I will be continuing this garden series all throughout the year and sharing gardening tips a few times each month to guide you along the way.
- Do some research on your soil, climate and plants that thrive in your area.
- Draw an outline of your garden.
- Think about space, height, appearance, water, light.
- Make a list of your choice of seeds and research them; some seeds need to be soaked or chilled.
- Make notes on your calendar about weather conditions and save the calendar for the next garden year.
- Check out different companies that sell seeds and compare selections and pricing.
- Purchase seeds now. (Resources at end of post.)
- Easy seeds to grow *radish, lettuce, sunflower, nasturtium.*
- Purchase containers for planting your seeds in; you can use plastic pots, peat pots or even egg shells!
Preparing Pots and Soil For Planting Seeds
You have done your research, made your purchases and now your green thumb is itching to get to work! Today I am sharing with you a step by step guide on how to plant seeds indoors. Plus a homemade Seedling Potting Mix Recipe for your seedlings or you can purchase your own.
- Prepare you plastic pots by making sure they are clean and have proper drainage.
- Label pots so you will remember what you planted! Trust me friends, those rascally seedlings tend to all look the same!
- Follow directions for planting seeds on back of seed packet.
- Gently press seeds in potting mixture with your finger or the eraser end of a pencil works wonderful!
- Pick out the plumpest and healthiest looking seeds in the packet to get the very best germination.
- Cover containers with plastic wrap and prick holes in wrap. I've used a pin or toothpick. You get the idea.
- Keep seeds evenly moist, don't allow to dry out.
- Once seedlings appear remove plastic and move to a bright light.
- When seedlings get their second set of leaves move them to indirect light.
Thank you for joining me today as we work together to create a home and garden through our talents, gifts, hands and hearts!
Next segment in our series we will discuss Hardening Off and Transplanting our seedlings.
Valuable Links:
Johnny Seeds
Park Seeds Certified Organic
Grow Organic.com
Burpee Seed Company
Fifty Of The Best Gardening Books
I love gardening too Jemma. We don't do a big garden but we do enjoy tinkering with it. I have several packs of seeds already that I am wanting to plant. Love all the tips. Hugs and blessings, Cindy
ReplyDeleteHi Jemma,
ReplyDeleteI am a flower gardener but I have thought now with being in the new house to try a few veggie plants. Great tips on starting plants from seeds. Thank you for sharing. Happy Wednesday.
xoxo
Kris
These are really good tips, Jemma, and I'm going to make sure the resident gardener sees them. Me, I'm a buy-the-starter-plants-and-put-them-in-pots kind of girl. Bad inside light and space!
ReplyDeleteWhat a fun post! I am an avid gardener, although having moved from a house on an acre to one on a smaller plot of ground, most of my gardening is now done in containers. Still, I do manage to grow more vegetables than one might imagine, and there is nothing more satisfying.
ReplyDeleteI love daydreaming & planning the garden on a cold, gray winter day! Now if the bunnies just wouldn't nibble everything! 🐰🐰
ReplyDeleteHi Jemma, what a great post sharing and planning for our spring gardens. It sure gives a lift on this bitter cold winter day. I love to flower garden but do try veggies in pots now and again which do fairly well. We used to have huge veggie gardens but no place to do that in our garden now at this home, so we lean towards pots.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing. I hope your new year is off to a great start and will be filled with many blessings and of course with your new sweet fur baby. Sending hugs your way. xo
Felt happy while reading your post. It gave me lot of useful information. It made me to be pre plan my purchase of seeds and growing of plants. You have explained it very clearly in a step by step process:)
ReplyDeleteGood morning dearest Jemma! Looks like fun; I think I'm better at designing a flower pot garden because anything I've tried from seed just never works! Your background and experience help you stick with the challenges that growing your own food brings, and I admire you for that! HAVE FUN my dear friend!
ReplyDeleteYou are a successful gardener, Jemma, with many wonderful tips. I have to say that the first time I grew the Ranunculus in my garden, they didn't thrive. They're such a pretty flower, and I was bummed out that they didn't make it. So I planted roses instead, and they lasted year after year, hot and cold weather conditions. Your expression of "brown thumbs" made me laugh, as I love to garden, but don't always have that green thumb. Always stay the positive, lovely woman you are, dear Jemma.
ReplyDelete~Sheri
We are stuck in a very, very deep freeze so it's nice to dream about spring and planting. If you wish it, it will come. ;)
ReplyDeleteWow Jemma,
ReplyDeleteSo much great gardening info in this post! My dad and grandparents were all great gardeners but I am sorry to say I do not have a green thumb. I do manage to keep a few houseplants alive. I want to plant herbs though as I love to use fresh herbs in my cooking. I would also like some container planted vegetables. I have grown tomatoes with some luck and would like to give a small garden a try again as we cut down some large trees last fall which will allow more direct sunlight. We were pretty shaded prior to that....so maybe there's a glimmer of hope!!! Thanks for all the tips! Enjoy the rest of the weekend! xx
Linda
I can't wait! We're going to try a few new things this year.
ReplyDeleteSome great tips on starting plants from seeds.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing.
All the best Jan
I love gardening, but I do buy flowers and veggie plants at the garden centers come spring, instead of growing my own by seed. I know it's much more frugal (and probably fun!) growing your own by seed, but I have absolutely nowhere in my house to put seedlings.
ReplyDelete[…] week I will also be sharing the sequel to How To Grow A Vegetable Garden From Seeds. In this gardening post I will discuss how to “harden off” your seedlings in […]
ReplyDelete[…] I shared the first segment of this two part series a month ago which is the Beginners Guide to Gardening. […]
ReplyDelete