Gardening Smart: When to Plant Your Seeds

Planting a garden once was more than a hobby, it was a way of life. No matter what else you did for a living, you planted a garden, tended it and ate the fruits of your labors. Someone in your family canned the excess ( usually the wife) and that was part of what you ate for the rest of the fall and winter. Just before the rest of the garden was tilled under for the winter, sometimes the kids would be out to scavenge and salvage any seeds that could be found. Some seeds were also found out in the woods, and others were obtained during seed swaps. Gardeners would sit and dream about all of the exotic fruits and vegetables they could grow as soon as the nursery catalogs started showing up, but every year the same plants would be grown and the whole process would begin again.

Growing plants from seeds is not that much more difficult than buying already started plants, and may actually give you more satisfaction in the long run. Before you do, though you need to know several things. First, you need to know which frost zone you are in. Once you know your zone, you can check the frost zone map and find the date of the last expected frost in your area. Then, you check the seed packet which will tell you how many weeks before the last frost date you need to plant your seeds. Each plant variety will have a different plant by date- some seeds take longer than others to sprout. If you have any questions about your frost zones or simply cannot figure out when to start each of your planned seed types, then call your local extension office and have them help you. They can even help you decide which plants grow well together and which ones should be kept farther apart in your garden.

Once you know when to plant, there is the question of how to plant. I like this method: save your egg shells and your egg cartons. Place one half of a shell in each egg cup, and then fill the shell with a good quality potting soil. Plant one seed into each egg shell and water gently. Once the plants are established and it is time to transplant outdoors, bury the whole thing, shell and all in the garden. The roots will push through the egg shell, and the plant will receive vital nutrition. The additional benefit is that you will not disturb the delicate root system, since you never touch the plant itself.

No matter how you start your seeds, you must be able to cover them should there be a sudden fluke late spring frost. Monitoring the weather becomes very important once you put your tender plants out into the garden, the smallest drop in temperature can spell disaster to the home gardener. Again, ask the advice of your county extension agent, who can explain the quickest, easiest way to cover your plants and keep them safe.