Starting Seeds Part 1

For the first time, I am starting seeds indoors. When I first picked up the seed catalogue in January, the prospect of filling my garden with annuals for very little money sounded like a dream come true. Then, pragmatism set in. A wise gardener should start with a few varieties and scale up once they built up some experience. It even said so on the internet. I decided to purchase three packs of seeds and one seed tray. I was responsible and level headed.

That sage version of myself lasted right up until I actually got to the seed display at the garden center. After repeated visits, I wound up with ten packs of seeds and two seed trays. My logic? Ten packs are still pretty inexpensive, and there is little labour required. If it works, I'll save a ton of money. If it fails hard, I'll just try again next year. There's very little to lose.

This is the argument that was offered up to my husband to justify coming home over and over with a bigger purchase than discussed. What was really going through my head was more like, "I want ALL the flowers. All of them. They are so pretty. I can give my mom a bouquet. She would like that. This is a good idea."

Anyways, whether by sound logic or by repeated bursts of shameless impulsive shopping, seedlings are now growing at my sunny, south facing window with more to come. I decided to grow at the window and not use grow lights because it seemed like maybe it would work, and I didn't want to fork over $50 for the setup. I didn't account for a curious toddler who just loves "baby flowers growing and growing and growing bigger and bigger and BIGGER," who has turned out to be the biggest security risk to the easily accessible location. Keeping the curtains around the growing set up seems to help keep his destructive nurturing energy focused elsewhere.

For those who care, I used Miracle Gro enriched seedless mix and the Pro-Hex seed starting trays. These were chosen because they were in a big display at Canadian Tire near the entrance, and I could find them quickly while shopping with a two year old who needed to move all of the items from the garden section onto the displays of outdoor furniture. Some seeds are from West Coast Seeds, which I chose due to their good reputation for quality here in coastal BC. The rest I found at the local Seedy Sunday event, once again riding high on a manic episode of impromptu shopping.

I accepted at the outset that perhaps none of these seeds would grow. You know, removing all the pressure from myself. Setting the bar right down on the ground. This is a tactic that has always worked for me, since its discovery in 2010. Back then, I wrote a math exam fully expecting to get 0%, and it was one of the most fun finals that I have ever written. I also rocked it. The upfront embrace of royally screwing up is not some negative aspect of my personality that I should probably think about amending. It's a superpower. By accepting failure as a possibility from the outset, there is no fear. There is fun. There is going with the flow. There is more confidence and less second guessing, which usually translates to better results. And there is always more learning. After a week, those little seeds began sprouting. It felt like I had accomplished something worthy of the history books or at least 45 seconds on the news, like ending world hunger or rescuing a cat from a tree. My previous history with houseplants has a 0.000% success rate. Things are looking up.


Please check back for posts about the trials and successes of raising each seed variety. Look for posts about marigolds, sweet peas, zinnias, cosmos, basil, cornflowers, calendula, and maybe even some herbs.