Starting Seeds Indoors

The Plant Diaries Pt. 1

Hi friend!

Welcome to a new series I’m calling the Plant Diaries.

We are gearing up to plant our raised beds again this Spring and I want to document our adventures in gardening. My family turned to gardening during the COVID-19 lockdowns as a way to connect with nature, relieve stress, and get a bit of exercise in. Anyone who has ever spent time in a garden knows that it’s a full-body workout! I enjoy the fresh air and the fact that it forces me to get outdoors daily to tend to our plants. There are so many benefits to gardening but my favorite is that it allows us to slow down and connect as a family.

We are novice gardeners but the way my kids go through fruits and vegetables, it’s worth the effort to try to supplement our weekly grocery shop in the spring and summer by growing our own food. A couple of years ago my friend gifted us the book Roots, Shoots, Buckets & Boots and it’s a great place to start if you’re interested in starting a garden with kids. My 5-year-old helped scoop soil into grow pots, place seeds, and water the seeds yesterday.

We live in Zone 8a so we’re right on the tail end of the ideal time to plant seeds indoors. Our weather is so unpredictable and our growing season is so long that I’m not too worried about the timing. I used the Almanac planting calendar as a guide. Because I’m a nerd about data, I also created a Notion dashboard to track the planting timeline and location of each plant. You could easily keep up with it in your phone’s Notes app.

Regardless of where you live, January is a great time to start thinking about your grow list. I recommend coming up with a list of fruit and vegetables you already eat a lot of and will be excited to grow. Our very first garden was simple— herbs, tomatoes, and carrots shoved straight into the ground.

We didn’t plant a garden in 2023 but in 2022 (our first full year in our current home) we had a lot of success with tomatoes, jalapenos, tomatillos, and lettuce! I feel like herbs are always a little tricky because it’s just so hot where we live. We don’t have an automatic sprinkler system and keeping things watered is a feat in itself.

I purchased this indoor seed starter tray with grow lights last year but we never got around to using it. Verdict is out on whether or not it works but I’ll be sure to keep you updated through the Plant Diaries.

Most of our seeds were purchased from Seeds ‘n Such but we grabbed the fruit from Target at my daughter’s request. Our local library also offers a selection of seeds so it’s worth checking into programs that may be available to you at low or no cost if you decide to plant your own garden!

Here’s what we planted indoors over the weekend:

• Early Doll tomato

• Tomatillo

• Sun Cherry tomatoes

• Patio baby eggplant

• Fooled you pepper (jalapeño)

• King Arthur pepper (bell pepper)

• Diva cucumber

• Prizehead lettuce

• Butter crunch lettuce

• Zucchini

• Summer squash

• Watermelon

• Cantaloupe

Still to plant:

• Medusa pepper

• Thai basil

• Basil

• Arugula

• Chives

Plants to buy:

• strawberries

• marigold

Our next steps will be to clear out our raised beds and decide how to fill them. I’m also toying around with the idea of adding some containers to it or even a galvanized tub to give it a bit of height and visual interest.

I’m planning more posts related to gardening for the coming weeks including books to read, my Pinterest mood board, and updates on how things are growing. Let me know what else you want to see as we embark on this new journey.

Happy growing!