Starting my Organic Garden Indoors

Hello fellow garden enthusiasts and welcome back to the blog! It has been a long cold winter but I’m happy now that with the beginning of spring comes the beginning of my beloved organic gardening season. Even though the ground may still be too hard regardless of which hardiness zone you live in, you can still start your eco-friendly garden from seed as I have decided to do this season.

For those that didn’t follow the trials and tribulations of my organic garden last season two events have spurred me into starting my own seedlings. The first was that the nursery where I purchased my plants mislabeled many of our plants which resulted in many problems. One of the problems was that I ended up with both the traditional zucchini (which I wanted) and the Sicilian variety (which I didn’t). I soon learned their growing habits are vastly different as the Sicilian zucchini ran roughshod over the entire garden forcing me to build an arbor just to contain it. Needless to say it was more trouble than it was worth as its growth took over my wheelbarrow leading to my mental note “don’t stand too close to the garden.” Images of Little Shop of Horrors came to mind every time I attempted to water. I also was not a fan of that variety because by the time I removed the skin (which I found hard) and seeds, there was very little left.

The second unfortunate garden event that made me turn to sowing my own seeds was brought on when an animal attacked my garden. I had bought my plants early and had the pick of the crop, only to have them eaten by an animal shortly after planting. Not only did I have to animal-proof my teeny, tiny suburban backyard, but also I had to re-purchase all my plants. This meant that my (supposed to be cost-effective) organic garden cost me double and I had the sloppy-seconds left at the nursery, that were planted late and trying to play catch up all summer. There was not a miracle grow invented that could help this sad motley group of plants. Needless to say my garden was not very fruitful last year even though there was a perfect storm of growing conditions. I was so desperate last year for help that I reached out to Martha Stewart on her Sirius Radio show Ask Martha and ask I did. However, not even the granddame of gardening could salvage this mess; hence the need for seed.

My hope for starting my own seedlings is that I will have more control over which varieties of the crops I grow. I also feel that if I start my own plants from seed, I will produce more which will allow me to have some back up replacement plants. Also, a package of tomato seeds costs roughly the same amount as four tomato plants and the seeds will produce enough plants for me for two seasons. I won’t get into the costing right now because that is another blog unto itself as I have had to purchase a host of necessities to start these seeds. I think all in all this new method, if successful, will be more economical plus (again, if successful) will bring greater personal satisfaction.

The main issue I’m facing as I embark on this endeavor is how to keep the plants warm and give them enough light as we transition into warmer weather here in Southern Ontario. I don’t have a green house nor do I have any large open windowed areas to keep them in. I’m hoping to figure out how to start the plants in my basement. I think this will be a learning experience and I hope it will work out well. My yearly labour of love has officially begun.

It’s my belief that when it comes to gardening it’s all trial and error so you have to give everything a try— wish me luck. If any of you have any tips, tricks, or suggestions about starting or growing my seedlings, please share them.

Happy organic gardening!