Starting Seeds Indoors

Growing your own plants from seeds is a great way to save money on your garden. Grow your own seeds indoors early in the year so they are ready to be planted when the weather is warm enough.
Starting seeds indoors is a great way to extend the growing season.

Warm season vegetables like tomatoes and peppers and cool season vegetables do well with being started early and transplanted later into the garden.

When To Start Seeds Indoors and Picking Your Seeds

First step is deciding what seeds you would like to grow for the vegetables you would like in your garden. You can find seed packets at most general stores. Also be sure to check out your local garden center, where you can find seeds in the packet, but also in bulk. You might also buy seeds from some seed catalog companies. We grow a large amount of vegetables in our garden, so we always buy in bulk from some seed companies. 

Seeds need to be started early enough to be a good size when transplanting. You should start seeds indoors generally between 6 to 8 weeks before the average frost date. You'll want to read each of the seed packets to see what it says for when to plant seeds indoors for each type of seeds you'd like to grow. 

Some seeds are fast growers and others take a little longer. Fast seeds may only take a few weeks to grow large enough to transplant into the garden, while others are slower to germinate and takes the seeds longer to grown. 

Every growing zone has different seed starting dates based on the average first frost. On the back of the seed packets, will tell how many weeks ahead of the first frost date to sow the seeds. 

Indoor Seeds Starting Supplies

There are several seed starting supplies and equipment around, but the basics are seed planting trays, a good quality soil mix or peat pellets.

You can use eco-friendly pots that can be planted right in the ground at the time of transplanting or plastic cell trays, where you will remove the soil cube with the seedling in it to plant.

I like to use the peat pellets. They are available already in a peat pellet kit or you can buy them in bulk and put them in the tray yourself. Then add water over the tray for the pellets to absorb and they will expand and be ready to plant in. Water them in the trays and watch your seeds grow.

But any growing container will do just fine.

In addition to the essentials needed for starting seeds indoors, you might also want to get glow lights, a heat mat, and fertilizer. But these are not needed.

Location and Temperature

Seeds like warm temperatures to grow. This is why if you want to start them ahead of time, indoors works well. Warmer temperatures trigger the seeds that it is time to start growing and they will germinate and grow better than in colder temperatures. If you have a dark basement, seeds can still grow there with the proper equipment, like grow lights and a heat mat. 

How to Plant a Seed

- Fill your seed trays with a seed starting soil mix. Make sure the soil is loose and not packed in. If using peat pellets soak to get them so they expand and will be ready for planting. 

- Its convenient when sowing seeds to have the seeds from one vegetable in one hand and use the other hand for the actual planting.

- Make a hole in the soil first and gently press the seed into the soil to the correct planting depth. A good rule of them for planting depth is twice the side of the seed. 

- Gently cover each seed with soil and pack it down lightly to ensure the seed is covered. 

- Be sure to label what seeds you planted. I like to use popsicle sticks for an easy way to label.

My son helped with the labeling :)

- Water the seeds by putting water in the tray and it will be soaked up by the soil. Also use a spray bottle and mist the tops of the seed trays. If you want you can cover the seed trays with plastic wrap or the clear lid that comes with some of the kits. This will retain moisture and create a greenhouse effect and hold in some of the heat. Once the seeds have sprouted, you don't need to cover them any longer. 

-Keep the soil moist but not overly wet. 

-If the seedlings are growing near a window, occasionally you will need to turn the trays so the plants are exposed to sunlight on all sides and don't only grow and lean in one direction - toward the window.

-  About a week before you plan to transplant the seedlings outside in your garden, you will need to harden them off. Hardening off is a term used in gardening for getting seedlings used to the outside. To do this, start by placing the seed trays outside for a couple hours each day. Increase the amount closer to the time of planting and eventually leaving them out all day.

- Transfer your seedlings and plant them into your garden. 

Seed starting is a fun early season gardening project. It takes a little time but has huge rewards with leading to a bountiful harvest.

Strawberry Picking Tips

Strawberries are in season here in Indiana! We are for sure a strawberry loving family!! There is nothing like fresh strawberries from the field.  We have a small patch that we enjoy fresh strawberries from. I love to mash them, add a teaspoon of sugar and pour a little heavy whipping cream over them.

Each year I make strawberry freezer jam and like a large amount to do the jam all at once. Last week we went to a strawberry farm  about an hour away and picked. My farmer's grandma (she was planning to make jam also),Laner, and myself enjoyed beautiful weather while we picked berries for our freezer jam.

Strawberry picking is a great summer activity to enjoy with your kids, especially when the weather is nice! It's a great way to create fun summer memories!

Strawberry season usually starts mid-June and lasts around 3 weeks depending on the weather and how many people come to pick. U-pick farms around here began their season last week. We had just used the last of our freezer jam I put up last year, so I was anxious to get some more done.

Some tips for your strawberry picking day:

Plan before...
-Call the berry farm before you make your trip to find out hours. Some farms like to cut off entry to the strawberry fields an hour or two before closing and you want to make sure you have enough time.
-Ask their prices. Finding out their prices is nice to know. The patch we went to had a special that if you picked 6 buckets, you only paid for 5.
-Ask if the fields are plentiful. Sometimes with so many pickers, it may take longer for you to pick the quantity you'd like
-Ask if they supply containers. You'd hate to get there and they don't supply containers.

Things to bring...
-Wear sunscreen. Strawberry fields are wide open space, you will be in full sun. You might also wear a hat.
-Don't wear nice clothes and shoes. Usually their is straw between the rows, but depending on how much rain there has been the ground may be moist. If you crawl among the berry plants as your picking, you might get berry juice on your pants. With kids, most likely they will get juice on their clothes, especially if they sample some berries. Your hands will also likely get stained after picking.
-Bring water. In June-July it can get rather hot and with the sun beating down on you, you need to stay hydrated, especially if picking for a while.
-Bring your lunch. You may decide to make a day of it or a fun trip with the kids. Bring a sack lunch and enjoy at the strawberry farm.

While picking...
-Pick red berries. Pick the berries that are completely red. Strawberries ripen on the plant and won't ripen after picked. Leave the berries with some white spots for someone else to pick later.
-Look underneath. Be sure to look underneath the strawberry leaves. This is where you will find most of the strawberries.
-Be a gentle picker. Leaving the caps on helps them last longer. You also don't want to squish or bruise any berries.

When you get home...
-Wait to wash your strawberries. Wash them when you are ready to eat them. This will help them last longer as washing them makes them prone to spoiling.
-Enjoy. Make up your favorite recipes with your strawberries. Strawberry pie, jam, strawberry salads, eat them fresh, the list goes on.
-Best to use strawberries within 3-4 days from picking.
-Freeze them. Wash and hull them (take the green part off). Let them dry and put in plastic bags in the freezer. Strawberries will last for several months in the freezer.
-Freeze for later. For example, I had strawberry puree in my freezer that I was waiting until I had more to do jam all at once. When you're ready to do jam, thaw what you already have prepared and mix with new berries.

To find a local strawberry farm near you check out Local Harvest. You can choose U-pick in the drop down menu and enter strawberries and your location and find a farm close to you. Take your kids and enjoy the time picking strawberries or if time is not available, usually strawberry farms offer them pre-picked as well at a slightly higher cost.

Be sure to enjoy a few while you're there :)