Early Vegetable Garden Planting: Starting Seeds Indoors

Some gardeners are satisfied to wait until the last frost has passed to head outdoors to begin working the soil. Others are interested in getting a much earlier start for a variety of reasons. Perhaps the growing season in a particular area is shorter or a gardener wants to stagger crops so that he has fresh produce to enjoy from early summer until late fall. Whatever the reason might be for early vegetable garden planting, you can accomplish your purpose by beginning seeds indoors.

What to Plant
You can begin nearly any type of crop indoors while the snow is still on the ground. Warm weather crops that require a longer growing season will do better if they are started early indoors. Cool season crops need to be mature before the hot weather hits, which also makes them good candidates for indoor planting. When in doubt about whether to start a crop in this manner, you can either consult your local nursery or extension office or simply get a pack of seeds and give it a shot. It doesn't take a lot of money or time to try out this method of early vegetable garden planting.

Where to Plant
The most important thing that you need to successfully begin your vegetable garden planting indoors is a sunny window. While this may seem obvious, it cannot be overstated, since those tiny seedlings will need all the light that they can get to thrive. If you notice that your seedlings are becoming extremely long and spindly, it probably means that they are not getting enough natural light. In this case, you can also consider supplementing with fluorescent lighting designed for this purpose.

How to Plant
You have a number of options for your early vegetable garden planting in terms of the types of soil and containers that you use. The most recent trend for many home gardeners is to begin seeds in trays of peat pellets. These pellets will grow when you add water to them, and then you can place your seeds right into them. It is by far the easiest way to begin early vegetable garden planting but it can also be one of the more costly. You can also start seeds in peat pots that you add your own soil mix to. Combine two parts loam to one part sand and one part organic substance, and mix it together in a wheelbarrow. Fill your pots and add your seeds, and your early vegetable garden planting is complete.

Once your early vegetable garden planting is finished, you will simply need to keep your seedlings watered and fed until it is time to move them outside. Make sure that you turn the containers regularly so the plants do not grow at an angle as they are reaching toward the sun. With proper care, you will enjoy a bumper crop of veggies much earlier than if you had waited to plant until after the last frost.