Written by Grumpy Pumpkin

Seedlings….

So by now, you should have many little pots and spaces stuffed full of your baby plant mix. Good for you!! You are now ready to plant your seeds and take your first big step towards a full blown vegetable garden. A few things to note before planting….first, some plants can deal with colder weather and don’t need to be started indoors. Things like broccoli, cabbage, spinach and lettuce do fine being planted outdoors. But these things are a one and done plant, meaning they grow to maturity and you eat the whole plant. Don’t sow the whole pack into the ground on the same day unless you plan to use 40 head of cabbage on the same day. Pot two or three a week of each, you can even reuse the same pot or spot in the garden. This is where planning comes in handy. I’ll give an example of what I do to get my mind working in the garden….

Draw out a basic plan of the garden….start thinking about what you want to grow where. You’ll need to think about things such as fencing for vines to grow up and cages to support fruiting plants.
All my different seeds….questionable seeds are the leftovers from last year. I’m not counting on them, but I am giving them a try to see if they are still viable.
Tamp-down all the dirt in your little pots. The goal is to get rid of all empty spaces that could be lurking in there.
Using a pen or similar object, made indents into your freshly packed pots.
3-4 seeds per pot. Now is also a good time to either mark your pot with plant name or put a cut piece of the label in the pot sideways to mark it.
Once you put your seeds in the holes, cover those seeds completely.
It’s important to check the back of each seed pack to see exactly how deep the baby seedlings should be planted. Every vegetable is different.
This same process holds true for any kind of baby plant holder you have. Poke hole to desired depth, add seeds, cover and put back into the plant nursery.
Find a sunny and warm spot for your seedlings, fill the bottom of your trays with about a half inch of water. You are waiting for the potlings to suck the water up and gently moisten the seed.
Covers on your nursery to hold moisture in, leave them in a warm and sunny spot where you can frequently check on them. They need to be moist at all times.
I’m also hard at work cleaning out my garden spot. If you remember last post, I encouraged you to start thinking about what kind of garden you want to set up. This is the work you can do while you’re waiting for your seedlings to grow.

So get to it….you can do this. Gardening is more forgiving than you think. There are many good videos out right now on YouTube. My absolute favorite is WEBCAJUN. Although he passed away last year, he is still the authority on easy planting and harvesting instruction. I encourage you in all your free time of self-isolation to give his channel a try. I will also post about all the things I am doing this time of year to get my garden up and running. Every day I do something, so check back to see what’s going on. Get started now, get seeds at the store, tractor supply had some left. Get dirt to start the seedlings, only the gardeners are going for these resources right now so you should still find some supplies. Dig dirt out of a wooded area, sift all the big chunks out. Use red solo cups if you must (just poke holes in the lower sides for drainage). You can adapt no matter what tools are on hand. You got this!!

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