Starting my 2021 Seedlings! LFG!

Such a great day I was able to start planting my seeds, I promised you and insight and some tips, so let's jump right in.

First things first, figure out which plants you want to grow. Then you can check the Old Farmer's almanac for a good planting schedule for your area. It's super easy, I have the link righthere for you, and you can just put in your ZIP code, and it will tell you frost dates and moon dates for when to start planting your seeds and transplanting them. It also tells you whether you should start the seeds inside or directly outside. I found this super helpful when making my planting schedule this year. I went by the frost date, by the way, not the moon date, it made more sense to me that way. Then I made a list with the plants I wanted to grow, and I wrote down when I had to start the seedlings when to transplant them and also for my own personal use how many plants you can have per square foot that way I knew how many plants I would have room for. I've plotted my garden out, so I know how many square feet I have, I'll show you that below. Then decided on the desired number of plants I wanted for each.

*Tip you want to plant double the seeds, since not all the seeds will sprout or survive. My friend and I have found it's best to have a backup plants. Then you can weed out the weak seedlings, more on that in the weeks to come.

Now, you're ready to get your seeds started. My favorite way to start them is either the tiny starter trays, or I go the DIY route and use Solo cups with some holes cut in the bottom for drainage. You can buy some small planters if you want, the jiffy pots are great too. You can even get your seeds started on a paper towel in a Ziploc bag. I prefer to start my seeds right in the soil. I get a seedling potting mix, so it has all the food and nutrients the seeds need to get a good start. Usually I use miracle grow but use whatever brand you prefer.

I have OCD, so naturally I have organized my seeds alphabetically and by category like food or herbs. Then I separated them by what's going to be grown indoor and outdoor. I had about a dozen or so seeds to start yesterday, the rest need to be started sometime in April. I found and emptied any old soil out of my previously used planters. Since, I was gardening last year I had some pots left over that I was able to reuse, so I didn't have to resort to using just Solo cups like I thought I might. I decided which seeds I wanted to plant in which pots depending on how many plants I was growing of each and how many seats I would be planting.

*a tip you don't want to reuse pots that other plants have already been in, your new seeds won't grow as well, unless you clean them out. You can disinfect them easily just by washing them out with water and peroxide.

Once I had myself all organized and my pots were cleaned, I filled them each with some stones at the bottom for drainage and then fill them with soil almost to the top. I left a little room for some more soil after I sprinkled in the seeds. For the most part I'm growing two of each plant except for carrots, celery, onions, and asparagus. After I got the plants that needed to be started today situated I put the seeds in, covered them with soil, watered them, and marked them with popsicle sticks as well. Also, seed packets are a bitch open, am I right? Lol you can find out how deep the seeds need to be planted also just by checking the back of the seed pack. Usually it's an eighth or a quarter of an inch.

Now, I don't have a lot of space for a greenhouse, so I made my own, I'm pretty innovative like that. I did this last year as well, but it came out much better this year. I broke out my old K'nex set and built basically a big cage, and covered it and plastic wrap to create my own poor woman's greenhouse. Haha. This worked out really well last year, so I'm hoping the same will happen this year. I have the plants on the table underneath my skylight to soak up the sun.

Once they pop their first leaves, you want to keep track of them because two weeks later they need their first fertilization. I bought myself a calendar at the dollar store, and I'm just writing down what seeds I've started, I'll mark when they get their first leaves, and then when they need to get fertilized. I did not do this last year, so I didn't have a good schedule for my plants, and it's very important for them to be consistent. Get them some yummy fish fertilizer too. They'll enjoy that, my garden thrived last year thanks to the fertilizing. I never realized how important that was. It comes in a white bottle, and it's 5-1-1. And fair warning it does smell bad. More on that later once the seedlings have sprouted.

When they are ready I'm going to transplant them outside into their garden boxes and continue caring for them out there. In between caring for the seedlings, I have to make another garden box for some new vegetables and make some new trellises. I'm going to try growing plants vertically this year. I have to make some trellises for the cucumbers, the squash and eggplants, and I'm really eager to do that too. Last year I grew my squash on the ground this time I'm going to try growing it up I can't wait to see how that will go. I'm hoping it will keep it away from the annoying little woodchuck that likes to come around our yard.

You can check out my potential garden plot for this year below. I'm still working on it, but I have it mapped out with a grid out, so I know how many square feet I have in each box. Then I know how many plants I have room for. There are a lot of things to consider when plotting your garden, in addition to the spacing. I almost forgot, but thankfully my best friend and fellow gardener reminded me that you have to be careful when planning your garden the following year because certain plants can't be planted where they or others were before. I have to till my garden boxes and top off the soil as well, because the level dropped after the plants soak up the food and nutrients from it.

Also, companion planting is important as well. There are certain plants that go well together and others that don't. You want to make sure if you have more than one plant in your garden box, that they'll mesh well. That's as simple as looking at a companion planning chart or just straight up googling it. I've kind of been wanting to make my own chart, but I haven't done that yet. I'll try and work on that for us. It's super helpful because some plants actually help keep bugs away from each other and give nutrients to each other, so they really thrive together better than if they were apart.

Before last year I had no clue what I was doing, so I was never "properly" gardening I guess you could say. I was just winging it and don't get me wrong I grew some delicious cucumbers and a couple awesome pumpkins, but it definitely could have been better. It's a lot of work but knowing what I know now it's exciting and being more organized than last year is going to make this year much easier. So I'm super excited to share my tips and tricks that I've learned along the way with you and to discover new things together. I hope you are too.

Photo: Steph Dansereau