Well, I got my seeds planted last Saturday.

I read that they needed bright but indirect sunlight, warmth, and air movement (to prevent "damping off" disease), so I decided to give them my favorite winter newspaper-reading spot : the loveseat in the family room. It's set back a few feet from french doors, it faces south, and it's underneath a ceiling fan.

I used plastic knives as plant markers. (People always seem to use more spoons and forks than knives, and I had a lot of leftovers.)

I've been using wax paper to keep the unsprouted seeds moist.




































Seedlings were up within a few days—even the basil seeds from the 1990s! Check out this picture I took yesterday. The ones in the top left cell were packaged for 1993. Granted, I planted them very heavily.

The 2001 zinnias and chamomile are doing well, too, but I'm still waiting for the oldest seeds, the 1989 green beans.











Now my worries are "damping off" and sunlight. Even with the southern exposure, a lot of them (see the cosmos seedlings in the foreground above) are reaching desperately toward the sun. I rotate them during the day, and you can almost see them getting whiplash as they swing back and forth to keep facing the window.

After complaining earlier about how confusing it has been to figure out when to plant vegetable seeds, I thought I'd share the plan I eventually made (for now):

• Squash-type plants, corn, beans—Plant indoors now (soak overnight first)
• Broccoli, leeks, tomatoes—Plant indoors now
• Cosmos, delphinium, zinnia, bee balm—Plant indoors now
• Basil, chamomile—Plant indoors now
• Peas, beets, spinach, leaf lettuce—Plant in outdoor beds April 1 (see note below)
• Carrots, onions, head lettuce—Plant in outdoor beds April 15 (see note below)
• Potatoes—Plant outdoors about May 1
• Wildflowers, nasturtiums, sunflowers—Plant seeds directly in ground outdoors about May 1

Notes

There's a really good and timely article about starting vegetables now at the RGJ site written by someone who knows a lot more about it than I do: "It's time to plant cool crops."

Here's the most helpful site I've found on line about starting both flower and vegetable seeds indoors. I like it because the author keeps it simple and doesn't say I have to buy peat pots, grow lights, or heating pads: Ed Hume Seeds, "Starting Seeds Indoors."