Growing Vegetable Seeds

If you are thinking of starting seeds for a vegetable garden this year, there are two essential pieces of information you need to know: what type of seed you are growing and your last spring frost date. This information is necessary to know when and how to start the seed. There is general seed starting information for all vegetable seeds here, plus general how-to information about starting a seed indoors.

Starting Seeds Indoors

Specific information for the type of vegetable seed being started can be found here. The information includes how deep to plant the seeds, the correct date for starting the vegetable seeds and the correct date for transplanting the seeds outdoors.

Start a Tomato Seed Indoors
How to Start a Pepper Seed Indoors

A beginning gardener starts a few seeds indoors, or sows them directly in the garden. Quickly hooked on the miracle of creating their own plant from seed. However, experienced gardeners know the value of saving seeds from this year's crop and storing it to plant the next year. Whether saving a seed to encourage particular vegetable traits, or simply to save money on purchasing expensive heirloom ,or organic seeds, seed saving is an art.

Save Fruit and Vegetable Seeds

Recycled Materials for Starting Seeds
In addition to saving their own seeds, many green and frugal gardeners learn to start their seeds using environmentally friends pots and limit buying and purchasing expensive items for gardening. Seeds can be started in used yogurt containers, used toilet paper rolls, and used egg cartons quickly and easily. There is a photo above of seeds I started using empty toilet paper rolls. Here are more household items that I retrieved from my recycle box for starting seeds this year.

Yogurt Containers to Start Seeds

Garden Poles and Trellises from Recycled Materials
Another thing that is used in the frugal garden is a trellis made from recycle poles, lumber, wire, and ropes. Some vegetables, like beans and cucumbers, grow on vines and do well when the vine is allowed to climb a pole or trellis. Scrap material such as used posts, wooden stakes, ropes, used chicken wire, etc., all much great recycled items for the home garden. Your plants will appreciate it and you can put those items to use instead of filling up landfills.

How to Make a Garden Cloche from Recycled Materials
More Ways to Recycle in the Home Garden

Many people do not think of growing a fruit tree from a seed or a pit, but it is actually not that difficult to do. Pits like peach and cherry pits, must be cracked gently before attempting to germinate them into a tree. Some seeds, like apple seeds, do not have a pit surrounding the seed and can be germinated simply without the need to first crack the pit. For detailed instructions on how to Grow a Tree from Seed or Pit, check these out:

Grow a Peach Tree from the Pit
Grow a Fruit Tree from Seed or Pit

Beans are grown by directly sowing the seeds into the garden soil. They are not typically started indoors first. Beans can be bush or pole variety. The bush variety grow low to the ground in a "bush," while the pole variety need a trellis or a pole to climb. Beans are fairly easy to grow and they make great shade for other vegetables in the garden that prefer to be cool, like lettuces.

Growing Your Own Beans at Home