Tag: Organic planting

Starting Seeds

Posted on by ginamcmanig

Ah, new life. There is something so exciting about planting seeds and watching them come to life! Every year after the holidays I get excited to plan what I will grow. Each year we add something new to the mix. One of my favorite places to buy seeds is Baker Creek. I buy almost all our seeds from them. I love looking through their catalog. I also save some seeds to use for the following year. If you are a little on the ”wild” side and don’t mind leaving plants in the garden after the season is over, you can end up with lots of wild plant babies in your garden without the work of planting. I purposely leave some plants to go to seed such as lettuce and mustard greens. I might leave a few chives and garlic too. I find wild plants all around because I leave them to spread on their own. Bonus food.

Why start your own seedlings you ask? Great question! You can purchase seedlings. That is just fine. BUT, there are many benefits to starting your own seedlings. Variety is a big reason for me. I like to grow things I can’t find at stores and markets or that are expensive to buy. More diversity in your diet and oh how I love all the colorful food! That leads me to another great reason. Cost. Seeds are very inexpensive. You can reuse many of the supplies for years. Another reason is you know exactly what went into your plant if you grow your own. The soil, fertilizers, etc. You control how many plants you have. There are places out there that sell nice seedlings but I encourage you to give seed starting a try. At the very least, check out the amazing varieties!

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This is the set up I have been using since 2017. I have a special grow light that covers everything I grow. I put down a tarp down to protect the floor and everything goes right there. I have used these little green houses for years. The same ones. I also use greens containers for some things. Growing can be as simple or complex as you want it to be. I use a grow light to keep the plants strong and not getting ”leggy” from having to reach for light. The image below shows what comes with it.
When I first started I had it up high like this. It worked fine but since then, I have hung it closer to the plants. I wanted to give you another view of how it looks for set up.

I use 72 cell trays which can be found locally usually. I have been using the same ones since 2016. I prefer the type you fill with potting soil rather than the type that expand similar to the one below. Mine pictured are the Jiffy brand. I found them at my local Agway.

I usually use one of the two types of soil below for potting seeds. When I have something outside to pot, I use my compost. The potting mix can be found at Agway or Tractor Supply.

These are baby tomato seedlings.
Pictured here are those tomato plants after growing a bit (bottom), peppers (top right), sweet potatoes (center top). I start sweet potatoes by slip. I will try to get another post out on starting slips.
This is what happens when you start too many seedlings. You have to put in an entirely new area. I did this at the beginning of covid. I thought others might need food. So, I grew a million tomato plants?! You know, because you can live off tomatoes…it’s the thought that counts right? The year after this, I turned this space into a new raspberry bed easily since I had killed off the grass with the thick black plastic. We moved it, transplanted raspberries and sheet mulched in between the rows. If you have time, laying thick black plastic is a fantastic way to kill off grass and such to start a new planting area. It does take time but is much less work than taking up sod or tilling. This is what we used. It can be reused as well.
Here are some bigger tomato babies that were planted in the garden with lettuce.
These are some of my favorite black cherry tomatoes. I grow them every year.
What happens when you plant seeds? You get food. Lots of food. I LOVE walking outside and harvesting fresh produce from my garden for meals and putting up. I will try to get another post up soon for what to do with all the food!