The Humble Homestead - Starting seeds

The humble homestead begins!

I love to garden. I may not be particularly good at it, or have much experience, but it's something I really enjoy doing. Being self-reliant on good organic food is something I have a passion for and we are starting our journey out slowly. One of the hardest parts about our move a couple years ago was losing my big garden we built at our last house. I have so many ideas and would love to just have a full yard of plants and animals but it's just not realistic for us, so we are starting over again a little at a time.

Starting seeds indoors is something I have tried before and failed… So I'm starting from scratch, learning from my mistakes and giving it another try. I tend to over research things, have too many ideas, get overwhelmed and then just stick to what I knew to begin with. Not sure how my ‘awesome’ strategy will work out for me. Who knows, I may be out in a month buying all started plants from other gardeners. Seeds have been ordered and delivered so we are ready to go on our gardening adventure! Getting the kids involved is a huge motivator in getting the garden going. They loved going out and picking the fresh veggies in our old garden, and they had so much joy in showing off our haul for the day. They also really enjoyed weeding so I'm praying they will still have the passion for getting in there and getting dirty.

I had an amazing friend who agreed to join in on a planting playdate. I don't know what could possibly sound more fun than that!!! So we got together, kids ran off to play, and we got planting. Now the big test will be, if anything grows, was it actually labeled correctly and was there actually a seed planted in the dirt??? I didn't say we had a great plan.. Between chatting and kids coming in and out, we also both have babies, we got them done but it sure will be an adventure to see what grows. Most important part is that we had fun, right?? I also might have planted enough seeds to cover a football field when in reality I don't even have my garden bed yet...

So my seeds are planted… Now we wait. They are currently in my basement with a grow light. This is the first time I have tried a grow light, it has different color options and I'm not quite sure which one is the right way to go so I figure I will cycle through them, ha! Another obstacle is that my kids play in the basement without any supervision for periods of time, so I'm trusting that they will leave them be.. They have already informed me that nothing is growing yet and I know they can't wait to see the first sprout!

UPDATE

Things are growing!! We have all been so excited to see all the new seedlings popping up every day. Still not sure if the right plant has the correct tag and some that didn't grow may have never gotten a seed. The kids are so excited to tell me when they see another sprout. I have learned a few things; Plants needed more space so I spread them out. Some things just didn't grow so I replanted them. A couple plants may have been planted too early and bringing plants from our basement with a grow light to outside on an 85 degree day was too much. I may have jumped the gun on getting them outside, but I knew they needed some air flow so I figured why not?? Well they got a little wilty and drowsy looking. Whoops! So we brought them back in, gave them some water and a little more dirt and they perked back up. Now they live on our kitchen table. I never said I have the perfect system.. Or really any system, just trying to keep them alive. We still have about a month before we can plant them outside so hopefully they don't outgrow their planters.

I have done endless research on what garden beds to use. Our old ones were untreated pine, which worked great for the time, but they were already starting to show signs of wearing down after a couple of years. I want something that won't affect my soil and will last a long time. Another thing I try to do is buy things made in America as much as I can. As of now, I have settled on Vego Garden beds. I really appreciate what they stand for (sustainable gardening) and seem to be a great company. As far as I can tell they are based, and made in Texas. Although I could be wrong.

If you have any other suggestions or recommendations on my started seeds or gardening beds please share!

- A 'dirt under the nails' Mom

Resources:

~ I got my seeds from this great family run site! Stclaireseeds.com

~ Vego Garden at vegogarden.com