First day of spring? Time for T-8 weeks for frost-free indoor seed planting!! Assuming Stillwater has a last frost date of May 15 (ha!), that would put us at approximately now to start some indoor seeds. I don't want to go overboard on this little experiment with crazy vegetable seeds and flowers, so we're starting - nice and slow - with some happy little herbs. First, gather a few seed packets, a seedling tray, and some seed-starting medium.
I prefer (based on no particular experience) the seedling pellets, mostly because it is totally worth it to watch them expand from hard little pellets to heavy-duty soil in less than five minutes. These are sterile components perfect for seedlings. Don't be using last year's potting soil for your basil seeds...unless you want last year's diseases cropping up in this year's garden. Anyway, add warm water, wait a few minutes, and watch the magic...
Hey, feel free to have fun with the pellets. You need to rough them up a bit to get them to stand upright and fit into the square seedling sections. Seriously, good times. Don't believe me? Ask TJ. He was there.
Read your seed packets, folks. Many seeds, like lavender and oregano, can be sprinkled on the surface and barely covered. Others, like cilantro (above), will do better if you put one or two seeds in a small hole and cover with a quarter inch of soil. Use a #2 pencil to make these holes. Ballpoint will also work. Permanent marker will not.
Label your sections. Nobody wants to make spaghetti with spearmint when they actually meant oregano. And, seriously, a mint julep with catnip? Snap to it! Happy planting!
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