by Tara Laidlaw, Farm Director
Despite all the snow, the days are getting longer and spring is just around the corner, and that means that things are starting to pick up on the farm. Many crops profit from being sown and grown indoors in a warm, protected environment (whether that’s a greenhouse or a sunny south-facing window) for several weeks or even months before being transplanted outdoors when they’re larger and stronger.
How do you know when to start plants indoors, though? You need a couple different pieces of information. First, you need to know the last average frost date for your area. For many plants, the deciding factor as to whether they can go outside or not is whether there is any danger of frost; these “tender” plants will die if the temperature dips below freezing. To find your last average frost date, check out this online tool (http://www.moongardencalendar.com/mgc/index.cfm/apps/FrostDates) or just Google “last average frost date” with your zip code. Of course, this date will be slightly different each year, so it’s just a guideline to help with your garden planning rather than a guarantee.
Next, you need to check the back of your seed packet. It should list when to “start indoors” and how long it will need to grow before transplanting outside. It should also mention whether the plant is “tender” (can’t go outside when there’s still a chance of frost) or “hardy” (will be okay if the temperatures get down into the high 20s), or it might say right on the packet how many weeks before the last frost date it can go outside.
Armed with that information – your area’s last frost date and how long your plant will need to stay indoors – you can count backward on a calendar to find dates for when to start your seeds. If that sounds totally overwhelming, the internet is full of great resources to help you figure out what to start when. One example is a print-out planner available for free from Little House in the Suburbs (http://littlehouseinthesuburbs.com/2012/06/fall-garden-planner.html), which gives you week-by-week suggestions for what to start indoors, what to sow directly outdoors, and what to transplant. (I’m using that one to help me with my first growing season here on the east coast!)
Here at Camp Burgess, I’ve already started beets, broccoli, cauliflower, celery, heading lettuce, cabbage, and a few types of flowers for spring planting. I’m also planning to start several varieties of herbs this week. It doesn’t take much to start seeds indoors – just some simple containers, a bag of seed-starting mix, and a sunny window – and it means you can get a jump-start on the growing season once the snow’s gone. What’s not to love?
