Every spring, my kids look forward to planting their veggie garden. We have a small elevated bed that sits on our sunny deck, at just the right height for the kids to actively care for it. We plant cucumbers, tomatoes, lettuce, peppers, carrots and lots of herbs. The kiddos LOVE rushing out first thing in the morning to see what’s starting to grow.
In past years, we have always purchased our vegetable plants from our local garden center. This year, we decided to try starting from seed. The kids were beyond excited to plant little seeds and watch them grow before their very eyes…and did they ever!
We headed over to our local garden center and picked out our seeds. My daughter had drawn a “shopping map” of all the veggies she wanted to grow, so we picked out each little packet according to her plan. We considered all the various seed starting kits and decided to go with the Jiffy Seed Starting Greenhouse. There are SO many things to love about this kit. It comes with individual peat moss pellets that are contained in a fine netting that you can simply transplant into your garden when it’s time.
What do I plant?
Whatever you love! Our family loves cucumbers, lettuce and tomatoes, so those are our main plants. Research plants to see what grows best in your zone. FIY…you don’t actually need to start green beans indoors…they grow super quickly, but they are a fun one for kids because they are pretty much guaranteed to sprout within a couple days 🙂
When do I plant?
Well, if you’re in a warm weather climate, anytime if fine! If you’re in a cold weather climate like us, starting seeds indoors 6-8 weeks before the last frost is ideal. You can check out your local last frost date here.
Expand the Soil!
Simply add water to the pellets and watch the potting material expand. Let them expand for about 15 minutes until the peat moss is soft and fluffy. Another great thing about these? The potting material is contained…no digging in giant bags of soil into tiny individual pots. Basically mess free!
Get Planting!
Using your finger (or tiny fairy garden tools…because that’s what my kids wanted to use!) create a small, shallow divot in each of the expanded pellets. For larger seeds such as pumpkin and beans, only plant one seed in each divot. For smaller seeds such as herb seeds, tomatoes, cucumbers, etc. place 2-3 seeds in each divot. Once the plants are big enough, you will remove the extra plant(s) only keeping the strongest one. Cover the seeds back up with the potting mixture. Cover with the included greenhouse lid.
Place your little greenhouse in a sunny, warm location. If you don’t have a large enough southern facing exposure, you can purchase grow lights and warming mats to get them started. Once they sprout, remove the plastic greenhouse cover. Keep the soil damp, but not soaking.
Enjoy and happy gardening!
Ashley + Lindsay
