Starting seeds

Its quickly warming up around these parts (today it was nearly 90!) and I am itching to get some seeds planted in our new raised garden bed. I have cucumber, zucchini, carrots, watermelon and cilantro seeds that need to get into that soil and start growing!

We are also planning on growing some potatoes like this, in a tower of some sorts:

source

We just need a tower to grow them in.
Add that to the list of stuff to do. ;)

I started some pepper and tomato seeds a few days ago, and the tomatoes have almost all sprouted.

I'm still waiting on the peppers. I hope they decide to grow!

If you are starting seeds yourself this spring, here are a few pointers:

*Don't buy the seed starting pots at the store, make your own!

 *Use old egg cartons cut into sections and then plant a seed or two in each one.

*Or, if you have some newspaper lying around, roll up newspaper into cylinders and put organic seed starting soil in the middle of them.

* Make sure to keep both moist at all times so your seeds germinate more quickly.

*Also, a good tip that I read after I did mine was to pour some water in the bottom of the tray your seeds will be sitting on before you plant the seeds, then the water can be soaked up into your paper container without disturbing the soil. The soil is so light, when you pour water in it it kind of splooshes everywhere and you can easily water your seed right out of the container if you aren't careful.

*Keep your seeds in the sunlight in a warm location and cover them with some plastic to help keep moisture in and encourage germination. (notice the danish containers from Aldi that I used to cover the seeds in the top few pictures)

When my tomato and pepper plants are a few weeks old, I'm going to transplant them to the garden beds. Since my containers I started them in are biodegradable, I can simply plant the whole thing and be done with it.

Easy Peasy. That's my kind of gardening right there!
Of course, I have to water them and weed them...but still. Save a few dollars and use what you have around the house. You reduce your waste, and give your little seedlings a boost with some extra nutrients from the paper.

Are you starting seeds this year? What are you growing? I'd love to hear from you!


This post is shared at Wildcrafting Wednesday