Starting Seeds Inside Zone 6: 2022 Gardening Kickoff

Welcome to the 2022 Gardening Series Kickoff!

Let me be clear before I start, I am not a gardening expert. My experience with droopy aloe plants and wimpy carrots is testament to that; however, growing your own food and surrounding yourself with plants that you care for is incredibly rewarding both mentally and physically. Historically, I’ve had more success with outdoor gardening, as my house has often been where succulents come to die.

Last year we had more tomatoes than we could’ve (or did) ask for, because we had wild tomato plants popping up all throughout our garden and even around our front porch. It was the first year that we started seedlings inside and transplanted them after the threat of frost had passed. Being able to see the plants’ full life cycles was very satisfying, and it lit a gardening passion for both my husband and me. This year, we are much more prepared and very excited to expand our gardening knowledge. 

Last year, we started seeds by setting a few pots in our downstairs spare bedroom, but we felt too far removed from them. Now instead, we have a windowed side door in our dining room that receives more sunlight, so we thought that it would be the perfect place for our seeds. All we did to set up the space was put a card table in front of the window, nothing fancy! Here’s what we have done so far.

For reference, these seeds were planted in the evening on March 9th, and we live in Zone 6.

The steps:

1. Fill peat pots with soil. We used Jiffy Natural & Organic Seed Starting Mix and Jiffy Greenhouse Seed Starting Kits.

2. Dampen the soil.
3. Mark the appropriate seed depth on a toothpick to make planting easier.

4. Place the seeds. Each plant type has their own 2 rows of peat pots with 3 seeds in each pot square. I tried to buy as many organic seeds as possible.
   • So far we have:
     • Coleus
     • Spinach
     • Sweet Peppers- both from a seed pack and the seeds from the yellow pepper we had for dinner that night
     • Dinosaur Kale
     • Broccoli
     • Sweet Spanish Yellow Onion
     • Texas Grano Onion
     • Cauliflower
     • Buttercrunch Lettuce
5. Label the peat pots. The greenhouse kit that we used came with blank row labels.
6. Lightly water the seeds.
7. Place the lids.
8. Let them grow!

Since planting, one thing I’ve noticed is that quite a lot of condensation builds up under the plastic lids, so you have to be careful not to spill water when you take them off. For that reason, I am thankful that we have the seed trays on a cheap card table! As I am writing this blog on March 12th (just 2.5 days after planting), we have our first visible sprouts of Dinosaur Kale!

There are a few other packs of vegetable seeds that we are going to hold off on planting until later in the season. Also, my mother-in-law gave us some different bags of seeds that are native to our area to throw into the ground and start a “wild” patch in our backyard. We ripped out a hedge and would rather fill the space in with plants that will attract pollinators and not need mowed, truly a win-win. We’ll plant those seeds and flowers for our front yard later (likely sometime in May).

I plan to share the successes and failures of our gardening adventure along the way. Maybe I’ll share tips, and maybe I’ll warn you of what not to do. Who knows at this point, but for my sake, I hope it’s more of the former. Until next time!

P.S: This week has absolutely flown by, so this week’s blog is short and sweet!