TIPS FOR SELECTING VEGETABLE SEEDS FOR SPRING PLANTING

Photo by Amy Urquhart

As we head into May, warmer temperatures are upon us and it’s time to start thinking about gardening! With these helpful tips from our guest blogger Amy Urquhart, you can have a full vegetable garden for the whole summer. Make sure you read her blog www.heartsintohome.com  for more lifestyle and household tips!

Tips for Selecting Vegetable Seeds for Spring Planting

By: Amy Urquhart

Every year as we move into Spring, seed catalogs begin to make their appearance in gardeners’ mail boxes, and this year is no exception. 

Although poring over photographs of beautiful plants is a great way for any person with a green thumb to survive the winter blahs, narrowing down a wish list of hundreds to a dozen or so seed packets can be an overwhelming task.

To aide new and seasoned gardeners alike in choosing vegetable seeds that will result in a successful growing season, stick to these five simple tips when making your seed catalog suggestions.

1. Don’t plant vegetables you don’t like to eat. Plant only vegetables and herbs that you regularly enjoy and will be sure to harvest and eat or preserve throughout the gardening season. Focusing gardening efforts on plants that you love will pay off; growing vegetables you don’t enjoy often results in either wasted space or neglect.
2. Choose a variety of vegetables that will be ready to harvest throughout the season rather than all at once. It’s wonderful to have a harvest season to look forward to throughout the summer. For example, greens, peas and radishes are ready earlier in the season while peppers and tomatoes are usually not ready to harvest until mid- to late summer.
3. Read the information provided on seed packets as a guide for sowing. Some seeds, like peas, need to be soaked first.
4. Don’t jump the gun and sow seeds or plant out seedlings too soon. Wait until all danger of frost has passed your area by before planting seedlings out in the garden. Planting too soon will almost always result in disappointment.
5. Sow directly into pots or into the ground wherever possible. If space is at a premium, skip seed starting all together, opting to plant nursery seedlings or sowing seeds like beans, corn, carrots and beets directly in the ground.

Admittedly, this has been such a busy early Spring… normally I have dozens of plants growing under lights and this year it has just not been possible. This week I spied the tender, purple tips of asparagus spears emerging in my garden and I’m feeling a renewed sense of energy for gardening this Spring. Now I’m just itching to get my herbs and vegetables growing!