seedlings

Starting Seeds

Starting Seeds

Ok, time to get our hands dirty! Yes, even with all that snow out there, you can start planting. While it's a bit early for us, there are some plants that need a long time to get ready for growing outdoors in our climate. As well, you can start seeds for things that you'd like to keep indoors during colder weather. For example, an indoor planter would be ideal for year-round fresh herbs or hot peppers.

To start your seeds indoors, you'll need a few basic supplies

Preparing to build a bed...

Preparing to build a bed...

Long time no see! This week I’m here to talk about my preparations to build a raised bed and a bit about seedling starting.

As I mentioned last time, I have some tomato plants started already, but it’s about time to start a few others now as well. Most seed packets will tell you how long in advance to start them if you want to give them a head start before transplanting them outside (and some should just be direct seeded after the last frost, or earlier). Tomatoes, eggplant, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, and peppers can all be started eight to ten weeks in advance, which is what I did. Last week I should have started some cucumbers and summer squash. The last frost date here is usually around the third week in June.

Confessions of a First Time Gardener

Confessions of a First Time Gardener

Hello everyone

My name is Rick Kelly and I’ll be your amateur gardener this year! I’m going to be making posts all season about my backyard garden. This is actually my second year gardening… but last year my whole harvest amounted to about 5 salads and one meal of miniature root veggies. So I’m really hoping to do better this year!

This year I’m armed with knowledge from some workshops organized by FEASt (Food Education Action St. John’s), a lot of advice from friends, and hopefully some advice from you! This can be a space for commenting on any issues facing first time gardeners, or about what I’m doing specifically.