After all the heavy lifting of last years backyard renovation, one of the things I was excited about was having a little area to grow some fruits and vegetables.
We spent a little time last weekend thinking through how much space we have and what we want to plant, and came up with a list. We tried to figure out the items that we actually use on a regular basis and decided on the list below:
- Poblano peppers
- Shishito peppers
- Bell peppers
- Onions
- Garlic
- Tomato
- Beets
We went to the nursery and picked up some seed packets and then I set out to research. The first thing I realized is that we needed a schedule to remember when we need to start seeds, plant them in the ground and when they’ll be available to harvest. I came up with this:
Garlic, Bell and Shishito pepper seeds weren’t available yet, so I’ll add those later. I saved some seeds from a store-bought poblano pepper, so I used 3/4 store bought and 1/4 salvaged seeds for that.
Since we’re trying to do this on the cheap, instead of buying seed starter kits, we opted for egg cartons. The Internet says they work just fine, so we’ll see! Basically, you just fill them up with seed starter mix, drop in the seeds and put more mix on top.
Then you water “thoroughly” (and keep them watered), wrap in Saran Wrap and place somewhere warm for the seeds to germinate. Apparently they don’t need light at this stage, so we put them by a vent in the basement.
Once they germinate (5-15 days) you move them somewhere with plenty of light so they can start to grow.
I’ve never done anything like this before, so we’ll see how it goes!
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