Here in bone-chilling Minnesota, my thoughts are already turning to warmer weather and all the fruits and vegetables I look forward to growing. I have wonderful memories of my grandparents’ garden plot, which was quite large and yielded everything from beans to squash to potatoes and more. Their plot was quite large and my grandfather even built some raised wooden platforms and walkways. That is definitely too much for me to contend with, so I keep my gardening in pots. People don’t realize it, but you can grow bunches of carrots and even potatoes in containers on tiny condo patios, and it all starts by starting seedlings long before the spring sun arrives.
A glimpse of winter here in Minnesota...
Gardening is a great activity for kids and families, and starting seedlings is a great way to play in the dirt indoors. For people who aren’t gardeners and might be inspired to try, starting seedlings is the process of growing small plants from seeds for transplanting outside after the frost-free date. This method requires some care and attentiveness, but is far less expensive than buying mature plants. The indoor growing period for seedlings is generally eight to twelve weeks before the frost-free date, so I am still a bit premature for Minnesota. But, this is the time to get planning.
Now’s the time to have kids:
Decide what they want to grow
Help you pick out and buy or order seeds
Start collecting cardboard egg cartons for planting seedlings
Ask family and neighbors if they have plant pots or containers (anything that can hold soil and have holes for drainage, like 2 liter soda bottles)
Ask family and neighbors if they have large growing containers to be placed outdoors when spring rolls around (stacked tires, cinder blocks, old kitchen pots, barrels, trash cans can all work)
Paint and decorate the large growing containers
Paint and decorate plant markers (painting rocks works great)
Need inspiration? I really like this site from the University of Illinois Extension.
In the meantime, I will enjoy my indoor growing garden—some of my cherry tomatoes just developed. They will become part of tonight’s dinner: Chicken-Pasta Salad.
...more tomatoes on the way...
These ones are destined for dinner!