Starting Plants from Seeds for the Garden

 A lot of garden-thinking and planning are going on at my house, but also some indoor seed-starting. When I start seeds indoors, they have a head-start when I set them out in the garden.

This head-start helps me get more crops per year out of the garden. Crops that I set out as little plants instead of seeds will take less time to mature and provide us with good food. Then, after harvest time, the space they were in becomes available for the next crop.

Seeds started in a box, or flat

Cool-season crops from seeds on January 4.

Same crops on January 28. I spilled some tiny seeds that are coming up out of their row

The box shown above is full of crops that tolerate cold weather, like collard greens, kale, beets, and lettuces. I planted most of those out in the garden over the last couple of weeks.

Seeds started in a tray of peat pellets

I also recently started a tray of seeds for warm-season crops in peat-pellets. A few cool-season crops are in there, too, but not many. Most of the crops in this next tray will need to be potted up, when they are bigger, into separate pots and kept protected from any cold weather, possibly until the end of March.

The tray/kit that was available at my local retailer.

Labeled tray, with some seedlings already coming up.

Notice the labeling! If I do not label everything clearly, I am likely to forget what is in the tray. I use masking tape and a Sharpie pen to label big trays like this one.

Planting seeds directly into the garden

I don't start every crop indoors. Some do go into the garden as seeds, like the radishes and arugula that we planted last week.

However, for all of my crops, it helps me if I set a planting schedule that allows plants to grow in the weather that they like the best.

Here on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, that planting schedule is shifted about a month forward in spring from my old schedule in North Georgia. The schedule below is fairly general, and not all possible crops are included, but it is full enough for me to sketch out a basic plan for planting the late spring and early summer garden.

What to plant in the garden in mid-to-late February

At this point in the year, there is still enough time for many cool-season crops to mature before hot weather arrives. 

Some crops to plant now:

beets, carrots, Swiss chard, lettuce, mustard greens, onion sets or plants, English peas, sugar snap peas, radishes, and arugula.

What to plant in the garden in early March

At this point, it is getting a bit late to plant many cool-season crops, unless I am setting them out as plants instead of seeds. 

A couple of crops for early March:

green beans (both bush type and pole type), and corn

What to plant in the garden in mid-to-late March

By mid-to-late March, weather and the soil are already warming enough that many warm-season crops can be planted. 

Some crops for the second half of March:

Lima beans, cucumbers, winter squash, summer squash, pepper, tomato, tomatillo, muskmelon, watermelon, eggplant

Tomato, pepper, tomatillo, and eggplant will produce much sooner if set into the garden as plants, rather than as seeds. I have started all of these crops in the peat pellet tray shown earlier in this article.

The above suggested planting times are not set in stone. Keeping an eye on the weather forecast is always recommended. If a monster storm is coming, even if the date range is a match, the best option may be to wait a little longer for things to clear!

In my garden now

Some crops that are producing food in my garden now:

Brussels sprouts

Cabbages that I started from seeds last fall

Assorted salad greens from the garden, and a couple of sugar snap peas