Starting Your Spring Garden Indoors
Don Trotter
Hello fellow Earthlings and welcome to our first winter together in the new
millennium. The first spring is on the way, and no matter how dreary it may
be outside while you're reading this column today, chances are the weather
will be getting warmer soon. Then it will be time for planting. Our
discussion this time will be on getting a head start on spring so our
gardens are blooming and producing food when others are still in early
growth stages. So let's take a look at some of the choices we can make in
order to get that head start on an amazing and prolific spring gardening
season.
Starting seeds indoors can be a fun and enjoyable project for the whole
family and a very good way to get your kids interested in the garden as
well. Children are fascinated by the metamorphosis of seeds to plants and
young plants grow fast enough to keep them interested and constantly
checking to see how the plants are progressing. This interest will continue
once the weather warms up and the garden moves outside. The first tomato or
head of lettuce from this garden will give them a new outlook on where food
really comes from instead of believing it comes from the grocery store.
Only a few materials are needed for sprouting seeds successfully. Some
lightweight potting soil, some small containers, seed, some water, and a
light source is all you need. One of my favorite containers for sprouting
seeds is an empty egg carton. You get twelve perfect size little cups for
early root development and plants are very easy to pop right out of the
individual cups and into larger pots for further growth or directly into
garden soil once it warms up. There are other household things like yogurt
cups and cottage cheese or sour cream containers that can serve as great
containers for growing plants as well. No need to go out and buy a bunch of
pots if you use your imagination. It is also a great way to show your kids
about recycling. A piece of masking tape and a permanent marker can serve
as a label so you know what you're growing.
Seeds can be sprouted successfully in artificial light and many gardeners
put plants on a shelf or counter and put a florescent light about twelve
inches to eighteen inches above their plants and keep light on them for
about ten to twelve hours a day. There are lots of really inexpensive
household timers that are used on things like coffee makers that can work
for lighting so you don't have to remember. The old sunny window is still
the best place to sprout seeds and most houses have a south-facing window
that will work fine for seed sprouting.
Watering is the most critical part of seed sprouting and can be the
difference between a lush crop of vigorous plants and a wilted or rotted
mess. Providing water to your sprouts should be done when the soil feels
dry to the back of your hand or finger. You can use any number of those
water meters to test moisture in soil but the back of your hand is by far
the best sensor and most of you already have a hand or two so save your
money. Poke some drainage holes in the bottom of any container you use for
growing so you don't over water and provide a tray so the water doesn't get
all over the place.
Soil for your seed-sprouting project should be a very light weight mixture.
Several potting soil manufacturers actually make seed sprouting mixes. Many
of them are quite good. I like to mix my own by blending up equal parts of
peat moss and vermiculite. This soil mix is light and it holds water very
well so you don't have to check the moisture in your soil as much as soil
mixes with sand in them.
Feeding of young plants should be done with weak fertilizers. I really like
a weak compost tea mixed with very dilute kelp extract. Compost tea is made
the same way as tea you drink. It doesn't taste very good so I would
refrain from imbibing. A tea bag for compost tea can be made of cheesecloth
or an old nylon stocking. Put about a quarter of a cup of compost into the
bag and steep it in a gallon bucket of water in the sun for a day. Kelp
extracts are widely available at most garden centers and I use it at
one-third of the dilution strength recommended on the container. This
mixture provides all of the nutrients your developing plants could want,
has no smell, and it won't burn tender plants like many chemical
fertilizers can.
When the soil warms up outside and the weather is mild it is time to set
your plants into the garden and you have a huge head start on the spring
growing season. This is a very fun project for those gardeners in northern
climates where the garden seems miles away in winter. But those of you in
milder climates can also benefit from sprouting your own seeds by saving
money on expensive transplants that are often produced in nurseries that
are heavy users of toxic chemicals.
Seeds are available at most nurseries and garden centers. Some grocery
stores also carry seeds for the garden. If you would like a listing of
seeds that are produced by natural organic seed producers give me a ring
Don Trotter's Natural gardening columns appear nationally in
environmentally sensitive publications. Look for Don's books Natural
Gardening A-Z on sale now and The Complete Natural Gardener coming in
February from Hay House at bookstores everywhere and at all online
booksellers and check out Don's columns in Hearst's Healthy Living Magazine
coming in the March 2000 issue.and I'll send you a list. Next time we will be discussing winter care of
your fruit trees. See you in the Garden!
Look for Don's book Natural Gardening A-Z from Hay House at bookstores everywhere and at all online booksellers and check out Don's columns in Hearst's Healthy Living Magazine coming soon.
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