Spring has finally sprung and so have my seeds!
Last year my family and I planted our very first garden with fresh fruits and vegetables. Since I truly do not have a green thumb, I was pleasantly surprised to see how productive the garden became. After seeing the actual “fruits of our labor” Mother’s Day weekend has officially been renamed Family Planting Weekend, and now is the time to get prepared.
I would certainly understand if you were thinking… why should I listen to someone without a green thumb? I will tell you why, I have a secret weapon (which is really the reason the first year’s garden was so successful). My secret weapon is this handsome fella, my son Robbie. He has a bachelor’s degree in biology and seems to know a whole lot about plants. This year instead of buying the young plants at the local nursery he taught me how to start planting the seeds indoors.
First things first; Before you start the indoor planting process you need to know what seeds to plant and when. For example, I started sunflowers, peppers, eggplant, tomatoes, and some herbs inside.
For information on other plants to start inside refer to this link: https://www.almanac.com/gardening/planting-calendar
If the window has passed to plant specific seeds indoors no worries, there are many vegetables that you can directly sow into the soil such as: squash, cucumbers, and radishes to name a few.
For this information refer to this link: https://growagoodlife.com/vegetables-direct-sow/
“Growing your own food is like printing your own money.”
Ready to Sow!
What you need:
Unless you have seeds left over from last year, buy the seeds you would like to plant. I had some seeds from last year and bought organic seeds.
Organic seed starter mix
Potting containers
Water bottle preferably a spray bottle for better control
Prepare:
Prepare containers- if your containers do not have drainage capabilities already, poke a small hole at the bottom.
Fill the containers with seed starter.
Follow the directions on the back of the seed packet and place seeds at the proper depth into the seed starter.
Using your finger or back of a knife gently move the soil to cover the seeds. Be sure not to disrupt the planted seed.
After sowing, set the containers in a warm location.
Using spray water bottle moisten the soil.
As soon as seedlings emerge, place pots in a bright location.
Cool room temperature is best for seedlings.
If you do not have an area to plant a garden, you can always plant some of your vegetables and herbs in containers.
Tips on vegetable container planting please see link: https://www.thespruce.com/great-vegetables-to-grow-in-containers-848214
Whichever method you choose, growing your own food is extremely rewarding, and not to mention the flavor of fresh grown fruits and vegetables is out of this world.
Stay tuned for progress updates on our inside seed planting to the outside garden. Cheers to a fruitful 2021 Harvest, and great big thank you to my supporting planters my family.
Happy Planting!
