About a week ago I planted my first seed starters. It is as simple as getting an egg carton, filling it level with dirt and popping a seed in each section. And voila!
There are many ways you can start seeds. Pinterest has an amazing amount of ideas if you search "starting seeds" or some variation of that. I use both the bottom and the top of the egg carton. The free-rage eggs I buy come in compostable egg cartons so if I want to I can just cut them apart and plant the sections directly into the ground when it is time.
The top section in the photo is all tomatoes. As you saw in the last post about garden planning we like a lot of tomatoes. All of those are either Amish Paste or Mortgage lifters. These two varieties are larger and meatier which makes for better ketchup and tomato sauce. You can vaguely see some of the marks I have made to indicate what I planted where. DO THIS! It comes in handy later when you have forgotten what you planted where.
In the bottom section I have (starting on the left) two yellow bell tomatoes, six cucumbers and four basil at the right end. I've never grown cucumber from seed before so it was exciting to see them pop up and how big they are compared to the tomato plants.
Here is a closer shot of the cucumbers with some tomatoes in the background. Last year we bought three starters for roughly $1.25 each. Seeing as we got maybe 15 to 20 cucumbers out of that I think $3.75 was a good investment. But, for about $2 you can buy a packet of seeds and use them for years. If you've got some time and a little patience then growing your veggies from seed will can save you a good chunk of money. However, if you haven't planned ahead or want to try something new, then grabbing a starter or two at a garden store is well worth it.
Later this week I am going to do some onion starts and maybe some fava beans. But fava beans are too big to start in the egg cartons so I might do toilet paper tubes with the bottoms cut and folded to hold the soil in or splurge on a few biodegradable pots. Other veggies such as lettuce, kale, and carrots I will just plant directly into the ground sometime in April or even later this month if it stays nice. Those plants grow fast and tolerate the cool spring temperatures we have here better than the tomatoes. I really baby the tomatoes. Kale on the other hand is particularly hearty. I still have some in the yard from last year that got snowed on and frozen and has bounced back. It is a little tough since it is older but it works for kale chips!
Now is a good time to stop reading and start planting. Go now!
