Grow Herbs & Vegetables From Seeds, step by step

This year we thought we’d try our hand at starting a few herbs, vegetables and flowers from seeds. After seeing this seed-starting post, we felt encouraged (if a child can do it…) and after seeing this baby at Home Depot, we chose to take the plunge:

The whole greenhouse contraption was only $6.99, and all the seeds that you see laid out below (sage, lavender, rosemary, salvia, cilantro, tomato and basil) were simply $1.59 each. Total spent for 72 potential plants (plus a reusable greenhouse)= $18.12. That breaks down to simply 25 cents a plant!

The whole contraption is fairly idiot-proof. Simply fill the bottom of the tray with two quarts of warm water and wait for the dirt pellets to fully expand. They go from little quarter-sized circles to two inch deep cylinders so you gently pull back the netting around the top of the pellet, create a little hole and drop in a seed or three. Then simply fluff a little bit of dirt back over the top of your babies and place the clear dome on top of the tray.

The greenhouse then simply needs to sit in a warm location away from direct sunlight (we slipped it on top of the dresser in the guest bedroom and did not even look at it again for four days- at which point we sprinkled a bit more warm water over the tops of all the pellets). And that is when the magic happened. I do not know if it was simply the passage of a few days (4-5) or the sprinkling of warm water over the pellets after a few days in the dome, but slowly & surely, little seedlings began to emerge.

Look at that glad little cilantro! Next to it we have our tomatoes poking up, and some fairly lush looking basil out of frame to the right. We were sure to sketch out our rows on a piece of paper and label the seeds in each one so we can keep it all straight (ex: row 1: cilantro, row 2: tomatoes, etc).

Now we simply keep them glad and growing til the time comes to pop them in the ground. And the Jiffy packaging (which we were sure to keep) even offers up a few pointers for acclimating them to the outside environment (put them out during the day but take them in at night until they get used to it, etc). So far, so good…

If we can do it, anyone can! So grab a greenhouse of your own (or check out Katie’s egg carton method here) and get down to business. And if more seasoned seed-starters have any pointers or tricks for growing your own herbs, veggies, and flowers, please fill us in! We’d enjoy to learn anything and everything to assist our little garden grow.