Get Organized with Your Seed-Starting!
Whether you’re growing vegetables or flowers (or both), this is the perfect time to order your seeds and focus on the right timing for your seed-starting activities. And I’ve got some helpful tools and information right here on this website to help you out.
First of all, you might want to check out which veggies I’ll be growing in my garden this year. Go to Susan’s Garden – 2020 (which is under the “Guides” menu) to see the crops, varieties and sources for each of the seeds. If you’re not familiar with any of the sources listed, you can find links to their websites on my Links page, also under the “Guides” menu.
To help with your planning, I’ve also created a seed-starting scheduler (and guess what? it’s also under the “Guides” menu!). On that page, you’ll see a link to a PDF file that you can download and/or print. Easy-peasy.
In the “seed type” column, list each crop and variety you plan to grow. Then it’s time to grab a calendar so you can decide when to start seeds indoors or direct-sow some of the seeds outdoors. This is dependent upon knowing your region’s average last frost date.
While much of Spokane, Wash. is in USDA hardiness zone 6, my garden is in zone 5b because of being in a microclimate. Our average last frost date is about the middle of May. That’s a good starting point for planning purposes.
If you don’t know your hardiness zone, here’s a link to their zone map. All you do is input your zip code and you’ll get the information. What about finding out your frost dates if you don’t already know them? Try the Old Farmer’s Almanac site.
One more piece of the puzzle is knowing when to start specific types of veggie crops. Your seed packet might say to plant a crop 4 weeks before the last frost date, but I’ve made this even easier. I’ve created two resources (again, under the “Guides” menu) to help you out. If you live in hardiness zones 5 and 6, you’ll want to go to Seed-Starting: When to Plant Vegetables – Zones 5 and 6. For all other hardiness zones, go to Seed-Starting: When to Plant Vegetables – All Zones.
So as you can see, I’ve tried to take the guesswork out of the timing for starting your seeds! But what about a how-to video? Last year, I shot a video called “Seed-Starting 101” and you can watch it right here:
Got any other seed-starting questions? Let me know: Susan@SusansintheGarden.com.