The dangerous seed catalogue

Veggie porn

After I had closed down my garden for the winter and before I got distracted by wintry things I made the mistake of opening a seed catalogue.  Now I have minimal experience with gardening and no experience with seed starting.  I wasn't really thinking at the time about how I was going to start seeds.  I was thinking that the organic transplants last summer were so expensive and I could save money starting from seed.  A few bucks per seed packets seemed so much better than transplants especially because they would likely last me a few years.  It would be so much fun to follow the process from seed to produce.  Blah, blah, blah.  Truth be told I was seduced by Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds.  Who can resist all the veggie porn and gossip about the quick and easy producers in that catalogue?  So I ordered seeds-- a lot of seeds-- and stored them away for spring.


The FVG plot is locked under snow and ice and I wasn't thinking about my new hobby.  Then I started seeing posts online about people starting their seeds.  They must live in warmer climates.  What? They live in MA and they are starting seeds in Feb?  Really?  Well one quick call to my mother and I realized that I was LATE.  Not only was I getting a slow start, I had no idea what I was doing.  I had fantasies way back when I bought the seeds that I would have enough funds to buy a SunLight Garden Jump Start Kit.  I obviously was high on the new garden at the time.  So now back on earth how do I create an indoor growing system that will be affordable?  Do you need special light bulbs?  How far will the light cover extend?  Do you need a refractive fixture?  How many fixtures per flat?  How many hours a day?  How many inches from the seeds?  How do I germinate?  What the hell is that?  And where the hell am I going to put all this equipment?

After exhaustive internet searching, wringing of hands, excessive time spent in gardening stores and Home Depot my mother and I came up with a solution.  So far we have a 5 shelf (36" x 16" x 72") utility cart, multiple cheap closet fluorescent lights (the shop lights only came in 4 ft and the grow lamps were expensive), and full spectrum T8 fluorescent bulbs. I will buy a few of the Hydrofarm JSV2 2-Foot Jump Start T5 Grow Light System when I save up, but in the meantime my system is 1/5th the price. For the actual seedstarting I have a collection of Burpee's seedstarting kits whose trays are made from plant materials and organic dot pots and organic seedstarting mix. 


Finally, I was able to sort through all my seeds and put the varieties into my plan and schedule for the seedstarting indoors and out.  Here's my plan using the garden planner from GrowVeg.

A clip of the 8 page document that is my plant list for 2011

I started broccoli, cabbage, and cauliflower today.  I was supposed to start them Feb 12th but it wouldn't be me if I was on time.  I sowed expecting a 80% germination rate although the seed packet indicates a 95% rate.  Here's a picture of my Burpee 36 kit with the labels.

I'm germinating them close to my hot water heater hoping that will provide enough heat.

Now I just wait and water and wait and at the first sign of life get them under the lights.