Get Ready, Get Set...GO!

The nice thing about our long growing season here in NC is the fact that most of my garden can be direct sown.  I've read ya'lls "northern" blogs about seed starting and I'm amazed at the amount of space and effort you guys have to dedicate to your seed starting.  Shelves, lights, pots and soil.  This stuff ain't cheap!  It seems that you guys have to start just about everything indoors. 

I don't have a basement here and I simply rely on my laundry room for warmth (to germinate the seeds), my kitchen counter top (for my pm grow light), and my southern exposure dinette area (for direct light once the plants get big enough).

The only thing I started indoors for the past 2 years was our peppers and tomatoes.  That's it.  (Aren't I lucky?)

I went ahead and pulled out my garden notebook from last year and reviewed my notes about when I started those.  March 7th.   Hmm...They got way too long and leggy and were started about 2 weeks early in my estimation.  Even though our last frost date is April 15th, I don't like to put "tropicals" out too quick, so I usually shoot for a May 7th-15th transplant date.  The old timers around here told us that you're fine with end of April but I'd rather be safe than sorry.  So by my notes I'll be starting my peppers and tomatoes around the third week of March.

Even though this is our third year with the garden, I've never tried onions.  I know...spank me now!    I plan on buying onion sets soon but this year I thought I'd try to start some onions from seeds. 

I know what you're thinking, what a pain in the a$$, but I just couldn't resist BC Red Creole for a couple of bucks.



I found a nice site that explains how to start onion seeds indoors.  So the onions are planted according to the method advised.  We'll see.  If nothing else I can use the tops (as suggested) for seasonings.

Now on to the Cassabanana. 



Say what? 

I saw the Cassabanana in the Baker Creek catalog and saw that it thrives in hot summer weather (got THAT covered for sure) and needs a long growing season.  I thought "what the heck" and hit Add To Cart.  I've poked around the internet since then and found this article best describes what I can expect.  So I've started those too. 

This is one of my fun plants this year.  I also want to try a loofah but haven't bought the seeds yet.

*What are some of the unusual or interesting plants that you're planning on starting?  Go ahead, tease me.  If I like what I see I just might end up buying more seeds.

(Insert SM's screams here.)