If you have the time and space, you can get a jump on the growing season by starting seeds indoors. I had great success with tomato and pepper seedlings last year and decided to try a few others.
Last week I started a tray with lettuce and spinach seeds for my hens – it would be nice to give them some fresh greens as a treat with their suet blocks this winter. This morning (one week later) I was rewarded with one spinach seedling – we’re on our way!
I also set up a tray with onion seeds – the goal is to have plantable onion sets by mid-February. At less than $3 for the packet it will be way more affordable than purchasing bags of onion sets. There are 72 cells in the tray and there are plenty more seeds in the packet. Onions can also be direct sown, but it would be difficult to discern onion from weed.
Tomato and pepper seedlings are started late February/early March for planting in early May. I already have an order for 100 tomato plants from a friend – she’ll also purchase her peppers from me but we have yet to determine how many of which color. I’m happy to take other advance orders and answer questions about the varieties I’ll be growing.