Table of Contents Home @ Roofscape About Roofscape @ Play Bikeways Beans About Boston Bird N-E-W-S Book Bag Cityscape Cookout Coop Confidential Funk Shui Garden Gates Garden Journal Greenways Kid'scape Landscapes Outerwear Outside Office Paths to the Past Radio Roofscape Roofscape News Roofscape Realty Roofscape Views Rooftop Movie Night Screenscape Siteseeing Skyscape Soundscape Starscape Streetscape Street Scene Thought for the Week Urban Myths Wild Lives South End Handyman Serving Boston's South End, Back Bay and Beacon Hill We specialize in small jobs No job too small Free and fast estimates Custom carpentry Fine painting Household repairs Landscaping We do anything On time and in budget 30 years experience South End Handyman southendhandy@gmail.com 857-272-7500

Starting from Seed Les Moore The seed catalogs, like late presents packed with promises, begin arriving soon after Christmas then, as winter finally surrenders to spring, the garden season gets under way. One of the gardener's many pleasant seasonal rituals, the first of the new year, is indoor seed starting. Jimmy with three of his killer tomatoes. Some seeds are started indoors for later transplanting out into the garden as seedlings or young plants. This technique allows the cultivation of the boys of summer, the warm weather lovers - tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, etc. - in the northerly latitudes. It's also useful for getting a jump on the growing season with many of the plants that prefer cooler temperatures - lettuces, kale and mustard for example. Some plants can be treated either way, others dislike transplanting and must be direct seeded or sown directly into the outdoor garden beds they will grow in. Spinach, peas, beets and beans are among these finicky vegetables. Roofscape's 2010 garden plan. Growing your own transplants isn't difficult, the plants actually do much of the work. Most people can do it successfully equipped with a little knowledge, basic equipment and a few common supplies. Besides the satisfaction of doting on your children there are several clear advantages. 1- Savings. Unlike human parenthood, which tends to be expensive, you can actually save money - lots of it. The cost of a packet of dozens to thousands of seeds, which can often last years, is usually less than the price of a purchased transplant. 2. Selection. Nurseries and home centers can only carry a limited selection of vegetables and their various varieties. Seed suppliers offer a full, sometimes overwhelming, spectrum of choices. 3. Timing. Plant when you want. Lettuce in March, harvested in the cool weather when it grows best, you can have it ready to go into the garden many weeks before it hits the nurseries. Kale for November, when it sweetens after being kissed by a few frosts. No problem, you've got it good to go when the local home center is moving in Christmas trees, 4. Quality. With minimal time and attentionm you can pamper your plants, producing healthier, more robust plants than any you'll find commercially. The key to seed starting success is simply this - light. Starting seeds requires lots of light. Lack of adequate light is the most common reason for failure. Gardeners lacking abundant light should stick, with no shame, to purchased transplants and direct seeding. Artificial lights can be used, of course, but might not be affordable or suitable for some gardener's living spaces. This article will cover what's known as window starting - seed starting in a warm window space with bright direct light from the sun. A future article will discuss working with artificial light or a mix of that and natural light. Roofscape's twenty-ten garden is sketched out above, as described in The Height of Summer in the Depths of Winter. Catalogs in hand - well, actually on our laptop screens - we've made our seed selections and submitted our orders, as follows, to four of our favorite suppliers. Vegetable Variety Supplier Days Plant Quantity Price               Beans, pole Kentucky Wonder Burpee 65 d 50 2.95 Carrots Scarlet Nantes Burpee 65-75 d 800 3.95 Chard Bright Lights Johnny's 28-55 d 210 2.95 Collard greens Georgia Burpee 75 d/t 800 2.95 Cucumbers Northern Pickling Johnny's 48 d 55 2.95 Eggplant Nadia Johnny's 67 t 67 2.95 Kale Winterbor Johnny's 60 d/t 240 3.95 Lettuce Paris White Romaine Burpee 83 d/t 750 1.25 Lettuce Allstar Gourmet Mix Johnny's 28 d/t 1200 3.95 Mustard greens Florida Broad Leaf Burpee 45 d` 1500 2.95 Peppers, bell Yankee Bell Johnny's 60-80 t 30 2.95 Peppers, hot Cherry Bomb Johnny's 62-87 t 30 3.95 Pumpkin Connecticut Field Reimer 120 d/t 10 2.50 Spinach Bloomsdale Long-Standing Burpee 48 d 300 2.95 Tomatoes Better Boy Hybrid Burpee 72 t 30 3.95 Tomatoes Super Sweet 100 Hybrid Burpee 70 t 30 2.95 Turnip greens All Top Reimer 35 d 50 2.50 Herb Variety Supplier Days Plant Quantity Price               Basil, Italian Large Leaf Italian Park t 100 1.75 Basil, Thai Thai Siam Queen Park t 100 1.75 Chives Organic (perrennial) Park d 100 1.75 Dill Fernleaf Park d 100 1.46 Marjoram Sweet Park d 100 1.46 Oregano Common (perennial) Park d 100 1.46 Parsley Italian Flat Leaf Park d/t 100 1.46 Summer Savory Common Park d 100 1.46 Tarragon Russian (perennial) Park 85 d/t 100 2.50 Thyme English (perennial) Park d 100 1.46 The seed starting table in Roofscape's big southeast facing office window. That's snow outside. The key to starting seeds, as we said, is good natural light. Do you have it? A large, ideally south-facing window - the bigger the better. An orientation between southeast and southwest will work. Direct sunlight for 4 - 6 hours with bright skylight at other times between dawn and dusk. Previous Page 1 Starting from Seed Les Moore Garden Gates Next