Wolverine: I started my onions later than January (but I know farmers who start in January, with great results). I do not expect them to be much more than "blades of grass" by now. I just started a day or two ago to plant them out. I was not sure whether it was too early but it seems that this is the right time. The picture is taken through a screen with a cell phone. That was maybe early April. They do not look much bigger now. They look the same as what I have bought at nurseries. For starter mix, I use Gaia Green Living Soil with earthworm castings. I soak seeds in liquid seaweed and/or water them in with liquid seaweed in the water... most seeds sprout within a few days (the ones that take a few weeks still take a few weeks but the germination rates are typically very high). I lose almost nothing and the babies are all very strong.

Hi Wolverine - You should start onion seed about 12 weeks inside prior to setting them out. Onions are frost-tolerant so they can be set outside as long as it won't have a hard-freeze. I did some viability testing on my seeds last weekend - Copra onion seed that I received in January is still good; 18 out of 18 sprouted 11 months later. I'm a good 1.5 months early before starting onion seed inside, but I'm going to see if I can baby these onions and keep them around until April when I'll put them outside. Always seem to be doing some kind of experiment. The earlier you can get the seeds set outside, the better. That is because around June 21st is the summer solstice and after this point, onions no longer will produce their "leaves" but begin bulbing. The more "leaves" they have, the larger your bulb will be. Here is a link that might be useful: BsnTech Gardening Blog

I have wondered about storing potatoes in peat moss, David. That's where the dahlia roots are. I've wondered if it would change their flavor or anything. I've never left much of anything in the garden during the winter. Just about never. I can still remember my tracks out to the far end of the garden to get kale leaves! I mean, I was wading up to my hips in the snow that year! I didn't know anything about kale then. Probably harvested the oldest, coarsest leaves even during the winter. I haven't even had the nerve to leave the leeks until very hard frost. They last a couple months in the crisper drawer of the fridge. Not really so great because the sweet onions do real well in the basement room with the dahlias on the floor & the onions on the shelves. I have Walla Wallas & similar until December. The less sugary ones last much longer than that. There are still onions classified as sweets in the basement - Ovation. But anyway, I'm eating leeks and sweet onions just about as fast as I can from their harvest until January. Steve

m-gold I used to use cool white bulbs but I believe that last bulbs I got were more daylight in rating. Since they are only under the lights for such a short time, I do not think it will matter so much. I have used both types successfully. If growing a lot of tomatoes, it would work best to start your seeds in a small container in rows. When the first true leaves come out, then carefully dig them up and plant one tomato per pot. If you are only growing a few pots of tomatoes, then you could direct seed 3 seeds per pot. Place them near the middle of the pot. If more than one germinates, then just pinch off (or use a scissors) the unwanted ones near the soil base and leave only one alive per pot (pick out the biggest healthiest seedling to keep). I should mention to keep the seedlings as close to the light as possible. The leaves should not touch the light bulbs (will burn) so lower the plants or raise the light source as the plants get larger. I keep mine about 3"-4" below the light source. No you do not need lights to grow the tomatoes. They can be grown in a sunny window. The issue with using a window (south side best) is that the tomatoes will get tall and leggy if they do not get sufficient light levels for enough hours each day. In my youth the first tomato plants we grew were place by a south window. As the tomatoes bent towards the light as they grew, we would turn the pots in an attempt to try and keep them straight. It works but not nearly as good as supplying light artificially (fluorescent lighting). I told you I was frugal. The best organic fertilizer? Compost if you make your own and manure. I have access to 3 year aged horse manure free for the hauling. Since we have rabbits, their droppings are really good too. That being said, I often use some supplemental fertilizer for nitrogen (if needed) during the growing season by banding a granular product down my plant rows. 10-10-10 works great. 5-10-5 too. Depends on what you have on hand and what is available to you the cheapest. IF you have just a few tomatoes, a liquid fertilizer works too. Let the plant tell you if it is hungry. If the leaves are not so green and growth poor then add nitrogen. If not, let it be.