Seed Starting for Crazy People

I am obsessed with gardening. Growing vegetables helps me find my inner zen. Gardening is therapy with dirt as the counselor.

At the house we owned, I had a raised bed. It isn’t possible to do that at our rental. Our rental agreement explicitly says that we can not plant anything without permission from the property management. It is a real bummer for me.
I am still planning on having a few plants in pots this year. I am seed starting a ton of plants and I’ll share any extra with my (nonexistent) friends.

Seed starting is fun! I want to show you the way we do it at the Betty household. This by no means an expert how to piece. It is the way I do it! It’s the cray cray way.

Step 1
Get some seeds. I am growing some California Wonder seeds I got from Baker Creek in 2012 and some from Burpee that I got in a seed trade. I also have a few seeds just labeled pepper on the bag that I’m throwing in for a surprise!

Step 2
Soak your seeds. I like to soak my pepper seeds over night. I brew chamomile tea and let it cool to room temperature . I dilute the tea with water. I put my seeds in the tea and let them soak overnight or until they sink.

Step 3
Put the seeds in some sort of soil. I usually use a seed starting soil, but this year I’m trying to not spend a ton of money. We went to Lowe’s and bought Jiffy pots. It’s not organic, but there are lots of options for seed starting mix. Jiffy pots were a lot of fun for my kids. You can add water and watch them expand.

Step 4
Get a warming pad. Seeds need to be warm to grow. The best and most reliable way to achieve this is through a warming mat. This is one examplebut I can’t vouch for it. I have an older one that doesn’t seem to be available anymore.

Step 5

Give the seeds a week or more to make germinate. This is where I am in the process. My little friends have just started popping up. I had my husband put up the grow light today. You’ll need one of those too. He always jokes about what people would think about grow lights and plants in our room.

It is a little bit of an investment up front, but it is worth it! My kids enjoy the process too.

Don’t forget to water your seeds from to time! A little love and care reap big rewards!