Gardening Club for Pine Valley--Starting Seeds Indoors

In case you missed the post on Nextdoor, a gardening club for Pine Valley has been started. We already have seventeen members and a few more coming. If you are interested, check it out in the "groups" section of Nextdoor. For part time residents who aren't able to get Nextdoor, I thought I would post this information in case you are thinking of starting a garden this summer, here in Pine Valley or anywhere. 

We won't be putting in gardens for a while, but if we want to start some our seeds indoors, now is the time to make some decisions. First of all, there are many vegetables that do just as well planted directly in the soil, so no need to start those indoors. These include beans, beets, carrots, corn, lettuce and other greens, melons, peas, radishes, spinach, turnips. 

For warm weather vegetables, starting indoors can give us a head start with our short growing season. Directions usually say to start them 6 to 8 weeks or even more before the last frost day. Many cool weather gardeners use Mother’s Day for that last frost date, but some Pine Valley residents say Memorial Day. Neither is guaranteed. Between now and then, plan an area for indoor seed starting. Unless it is very warm, you will probably need a heat mat to warm the soil. You will also need containers, growing lights, a mild fertilizer and seed starting mix (which is different that potting mix.) You can buy seed starting mix, but there are also recipes online that usually contain things like peat moss, perlite, vermiculite or coco coir. These help keep the soil moist, but also loose for good aeration. 

There is a lot of good information available for planting seeds indoors from experts with more experience than me, so I’ll include a few below. A few things I’ve learned from experience is that window light isn’t enough to grow healthy seedlings, that a fan can help strengthen the stems and avoid leggy plants and that the seedlings need to be kept moist but not overwatered. 

Good luck! I’m going to try starting a bunch of mine indoors this year so good luck to us all!

Johnny’s Selected Seeds: Guidelines for Starting Seeds Indoors: https://www.johnnyseeds.com/on/demandware.static/-/Library-Sites-JSSSharedLibrary/default/dwe1d8d210/assets/information/7640-seed-starting-transplanting-guidelines.pdf

Burpee Seeds, Indoor Seed Starting: https://www.burpee.com/gardenadvicecenter/areas-of-interest/seed-starting/indoor-seed-starting/article10002.html

American Meadows, How to Start Vegetable Seeds Indoors: https://www.americanmeadows.com/start-seeds-indoors

Seed Savers Exchange, Starting Seeds Indoors: https://www.seedsavers.org/starting-seeds