Stop Buying Plants: How to Grow a Grocery Store in Your Backyard from Scratch

Homegrown vegetables are one of life’s greatest pleasures, but it can be expensive to buy all the plants you want to grow at your garden center each spring. But when you know how to grow a vegetable garden from seed, you’ll be able to grow what you enjoy at a price you’ll love, and harvest it all at the peak of freshness. Here’s all you need to know to get those seeds started.

Starting Vegetable Seeds Indoors or Outdoors?

Starting seeds indoors (indirect sowing) is a great way to banish the winter blues and green up your windowsills. It gives you a head start on planting, ups germination rates, and can protect tiny seedlings from birds and insects. But if life gets too crazy in the lead-up to spring, or space is at a premium, it’s good to know that some seeds actually do just as well if you sow them directly into garden beds (direct sowing).

When making decisions about which seeds get precious indoor space, start with those that germinate and/or grow slowly. Leave the vining veggies like peas and beans outdoors, as well as root vegetables that can resent transplanting.

When to Start Vegetable Garden Seeds

A common but preventable mistake when growing vegetables from seed is to get too excited and find yourself sowing everything all at once. But different types of seeds have different germination and growth rates (aka ‘days to harvest’), and timing this against your area’s last frost date is your secret weapon against leggy tomato seedlings that still can’t go outside, or pea seeds rotting in cold, wet soil.

You can get the date of your last frost from your local state extension service or search for it online. Then, scan your seed packets for sowing times. Depending on the type of seed, the packet may provide both indoor and outdoor sowing times. Grab your calendar and count out the number of weeks to plant before your last spring frost date to figure out when to start indoors, or mark when you can sow outdoors.

Starting Veggie Seeds Indoors (Indirect)

Once you’ve selected the vegetable seeds you want to start indoors, and figured out the best time to sow them, follow these steps to grow them into veggie starts for your garden.

1. Gather supplies. Seed. Soil. Water. Light. That’s all you need to start your own veggies indoors. Use a good quality sterile seed starting mix and clean seed starting trays with deep cells that allow for strong root development.
2. Sow seeds. Fill your trays with soil and gently tamp down each cell. Sow one to two seeds per cell at depths according to the packet, cover with soil, and ensure the seeds make good contact by gently pressing the soil around them. Gently is the keyword. Don’t forget to label your seeds.
3. Provide light. Seeds can germinate on a windowsill, but for the strongest, stockiest plants, it pays to use lights. LED technology has filled the market with excellent, energy-saving solutions for small spaces, or you can start out with a small shop light fitted with full spectrum grow bulbs. Many seeds do not need light to germinate, but once those first leaves break through the soil surface, the light should be strong and constant to prevent weak, leggy seedlings.
4. Water regularly. Keep your seedlings evenly moist but not wet to discourage fungal diseases. Watering from the bottom of the tray and allowing moisture to wick through the growing media is a great way to prevent displacing seeds or damaging seedlings.
5. Transplant to larger pots. When your seedlings have developed four to five sets of leaves, it’s time to transplant them to slightly larger pots and a richer soil than seed starting mix. Four-inch-square pots work well for giving each seedling more space to grow.
6. Harden off seedlings. Before moving your veggie seedlings outdoors, they’ll need a period of hardening off. This refers to the process of acclimatizing them to outside conditions. Once outside temperatures are favorable (usually after your last frost date), set your seedlings out in a protected area or cold frame each morning with some morning sun, bringing them back in for the evening hours, or simply close the cold frame. After a week, they’ll be ready to handle their new lives outdoors.

Seeds for Starting Indoors

You can start both cool-season and warm-weather veggies indoors. The following types of veggie seeds are good choices for starting indoors to give them extra time to reach maturity and protect them from pests while very young.

Cool Season:

• Cabbage
• Kale
• Broccoli
• Cauliflower
• Brussels Sprouts
• Leeks
• Onions

Warm Season:

• Tomatoes
• Eggplant
• Peppers
• Melons

Starting Veggie Seeds Outdoors (Direct)

Directly sowing vegetable seeds in garden beds saves time, but subjects germinating seeds to weather, pests, and soil inconsistencies. Follow these guidelines to ensure your seeds have the best chance of success:

• Prepare your garden beds deeply, digging in lots of rich organic material such as compost.
• Rake the top inch of soil, removing large objects and leaving a fine tilth.
• Check your frost dates and make sure seeds are planted at the right time for your area.
• Use two sticks connected by string to guide you as you sow seeds in a row.
• Pay attention to the recommended spacing between seeds and between rows. Most seed packets instruct you to sow thickly and then thin seedlings after germination. Don’t skip this step – crowded seedlings do not perform well.
• Mark rows clearly with the variety name.
• Keep seed bed and emerging seedlings well-watered to help establish strong roots.
• Don’t forget to weed. Competition for nutrients and water is heavy outdoors. Check your seedlings daily and pinch out intruders.

Seeds for Direct Sowing

The following types of veggie seeds are fast-growing so don’t need a head start indoors, or won’t tolerate transplanting well.

Cool Season:

• Radishes
• Peas
• Lettuce
• Spinach
• Carrots
• Beets
• Chard

Warm Season:

• Beans
• Corn
• Zucchini/Summer Squash
• Pumpkins/Winter Squash