Germination Determination

Yesterday I attended my first Citizen Gardener class where we talked about everything from compost to seed starting. I started getting nervous after the instructor stated that if we didn't already start our tomato seeds we were going to have to buy transplants because it was way too late to start seeds. Wait what? Are you kidding. My goal is to start everything from seed this year. I really enjoyed the experience of raising the girls from when they were a day old to where they are now and figured if I could grow a tomato, pepper, or pretty much anything from just a teeny tiny seed to something I could eat, I would feel good and accomplished.


After the first garden class(I have two left), I was inspired to get my seeds started. I have to tell you, I am a little intimidated by all of this seed starting, composting, mulching stuff. I am just so green when it comes gardening and no matter how much I read and saturate my mind with all the literature out there, I still feel its like learning a different language. So this spring I'm starting small and will consider it my trial and error period and by the fall I will at least know if I can grow anything successfully. This is really the first time i have ever tried this, so here goes nothing.


I went to a great garden store today and picked out the seeds i need to get started indoors now to grow this spring. The staff was super helpful and I got a great mix of seeds. I went ahead and did it the easy way and bought trays and used a good germinator mix. As of now the seeds I have started are Broccoli, Tomatoes, brussel Sprouts, Serrano peppers, Green peppers, and a Garden candy tomato mix. In addition I will add cucumbers, green beans, okra, carrot, potatoes, Swiss chard, a Mesclun salad mix, and a mix of herbs. I covered my trays with wet burlap to keep the moisture in. I was lucky enough to get about 100 coffee burlap sacks from my friend Jess. He and His wife E own the Austin Roasting Company and he was generous enough to give me all of his coffee sacks. They will be great for mulch and also I am going to try to use them as a weed barrier under my raised beds.  Right now its just a waiting game to see if I will have some green shooting up in a few days or weeks. Fingers crossed.

Seeds Germinating in the Dining room. I have used the burlap to help keep moisture in