Welcome LArnold from the Hoosier state.

Perhaps you might tell us about what size of garden plot you may have and what types of crops you would likely grow as a person who has been out of the loop for a while.

To start healthy seedlings indoors they need lots of light. I start some early seedlings indoors for transplant out later...like broccoli, cabbage, tomatoes, peppers, melons, and some flowers.

Some other things are purchased as started plants like onions and sweetpotatoes.

Since I am retired, I have been able to raise excellent seedlings early indoors. All I have special is two 4 foot long double bulb fluoresent fixtures that I take down from the garage and mount them on pipes with adjustable chains.I start the seeds in a very warm spot and immediately get them under the lights when they first peep up. I then take them outdoors whenever possible to get them sturdy and hardened in while small.

Blessed gardening.

I can send you a few seeds. What are you wanting to grow? Please e-mail me at zackeysmom@yahoo.com.

I am having trouble starting tiny seeds. I try not to bury them too deep. My germination rate is poor. I've tried a few times to get catnip and feverfew to sprout. What am I doing wrong?

Try using a coarse/well draining mix like Al's 5:1:1 pine fines:peat moss:perlite mix (bark is ~$4-5 per 2 cubic foot bag around here). Fill your trays/flats with the mix, water thoroughly, sprinkle seeds on top, cover with a thin layer of peat moss over the surface. Water the top using a spray bottle, cover the top of the tray with saran wrap and place the tray somewhere warm. I've used the top of the cable box with a baking cooling rack in between for ventilation. I placed a piece of cardboard covered with saran wrap and paper towels on the rack first to prevent water from spilling. Since the tray is covered, you don't need to water. As soon as the seeds begin to sprout you can uncover and move the tray next to a window, or under lights as Wayne stated and continue watering with the spray bottle until moving outside or potting up.

Here is a link that might be useful: Earthgro Groundcover Bark

Also I believe it's ~1 tablespoon of dolomitic lime to be mixed in per gallon of 5:1:1 mix, although I'm not sure that's necessary if only for seedlings.

Here is a link that might be useful: Tapla's 5-1-1 Container Mix in More Detail

Check out the Winter Sowing forum. There are posters who give free seeds to newbies and I've linked to Trudi's winter sowing site. She gives free seeds every year. There's valuable information there on the Winter Sowing method. It's fun and easy. HTH

Here is a link that might be useful: winter sowing

I have had success with seeds from the 99cent store. They are 10 for a dollar, or 10 cents a pack. I don't think they have them at this time of year, but they usually do in the spring.

Here is a link that might be useful: What's Growing On?

Hi, LArnold

It's too early to plant inside for almost anything you want to transplant out for the summer. Plant something now, but plan on planting again later for transplanting.

Good windowsill herbs are parsley and basil. Start them in full sized pots, not the little six-packs that you get starts from the garden center. You won't need to transplant these. Also, only put in about 5 seeds. If they are new seeds, these are eager plants that should just pop up. Okay, the basil will pop up. Parsley is a bit slower. Soak the seed-starting potting soil first, drop the seeds on top, and use a spray bottle of water to mist them in. With such small seeds, I rarely try to put any soil over the top. Put a bit of plastic wrap or bag over the top of the pot to hold the moisture in while the seeds are germinating, but take it off as soon as you see sprouts to prevent damping off (DO is a fungus, not just overwatering). Have your daughters blow at the growing sprouts every day to encourage sturdy stems.

Another thing you can do this time of year is start sweet potato slips. Cut a sweet potato in half, nestle the cut side down into a pot of potting soil, and keep watered. It should soon develop leafy shoots. You can let them just grow (we had a sweet potato vine rambling all over the kitchen when I was a kid), or you can break them off the potato with some roots attached and plant in the ground outside when all risk of frost is past. Assuming you have fertile soil and a hot summer, by fall you should have sweet potatoes to dig up.

My kids are 10 now and we have been gardening since they were 5. Dear daughter's plot tends to be flowers, by her choice, and dear son has a pizza garden with tomatoes, squash, oregano, parsley, onions, etc. Then they both have pumpkin plants, and we have one bed of carrots and winter radishes right outside of the kitchen that get planted mid-summer so they are ready to harvest just as the weather is frosty. I cover these with a low tunnel and leaves, and we pull carrots and radishes well into the winter and again in the very early spring. We have found this works for turnips and beets in our climate, too.

Have fun gardening with your kids!

Catherine