Our 2017 Seedlings

We have tried a few times in the past to grow from seeds and it has failed. Every time. This year, with the massive size of our garden we agreed it was worth it to try again. Growing from seeds allows you to pick exactly what plants you want to grow. You want to grow tomatoes??? Get ready to go through a seed catalogue and narrow it down from 100 different kinds. If you usually grow from plants from a nursery you are really limiting  your options. Growing from seed also saves money. It is much cheaper to buy seeds and containers then to buy plants. The “downside” of buying seeds is that they take a lot of work. To some that is a downside, for me it is not. For me it is fun, I get to conduct a miniature indoor gardening operation. When you have been garden planning all winter, it is a relief to finally get to take action.

We ordered all of our seeds from Burpee

We have…

Sweet pepper Marconi Golden

Tomato Sun Gold Hybrid (Cherry)

Tomato HoneyBunch Hybrid (Cherry

Tomato Mortgage Lifter

Tomato Better Boy Hybrid

Watermelon Sugar Baby

Cucumber Straight Eight (Large)

Cucumber Supremo Hybrid (Small)

Pumpkin Jack-O’-Lantern

Pumpkin Jack Be Little

Winter Squash Vegetable Spaghetti

Winter Squash Waltham Butternut

AND!

Marigolds!

I chose to order seeds for what we needed a lot of. We need a lot of tomatoes, peppers, and Marigolds!

We also ordered seeds based on how easy they are to start from seed. Squash, pumpkins, and watermelons are very easy to start from seed.

Another reason to order seeds is to have more choices. We wanted a specific kind of tomatoes and cucumbers.

Why Marigolds? Marigolds are great to have in a garden. They are beautiful, bloom continuously, and add some color to our garden. They also have a greater purpose. They repel bugs and pests, even bunnies! Their sweet odor is strong enough to mask the smell of plants in your garden, keeping them safe.

We have shelving set up in front of our large living room windows. Ten days in and a lot had already popped up.

10 Days

Three Weeks in and I have already had to move the pumpkins, squash, watermelons, and some cucumbers into larger containers.

Three Weeks

It has been so much fun, for ALL of us, to watch our seed babies grow!

We have other seeds that we will be planting directly into the ground. Drumroll…

Sweet Corn Ambrosia

Sweet Corn Baby Corn Bonus

Sweet Corn Suntava Full Season Purple Hybrid

Sunflower Mammoth Russian

Sunflower Teddy Bear

Only a few more weeks and we will be able to get those in the ground!