What kind of soil do i buy, like a bag of Miracle Grow from Wal-Mart? As others have stated, don't use Miracle Grow or any other mix that has fertilizer in it. Newly sprouted seedlings don't need extra food, and fertilizers will only encourage funguses to grow and they can kill your seedlings. Get something labeled "soilless seed starting mix" or something like that, and don't feed your seedlings until they've been up for some time and/or have started putting on their first true leaves. Also how often do i water the seeds? Keep them moist until they sprout. Then, let just the surface of the soil dry out to avoid funguses, but don't let them completely dry out (as in all the soil dry). Do i keep them inside or outside? You can start a lot of seeds outside. It's called winter sowing and there's an entire forum here on the Gardenweb dedicated to that method. But they'll sprout later than ones you keep inside. I have a sunroom that is not heated, would that be suitable? In cold or warm room? Your sunroom will probably work if it gets bright, all-day light. I don't know the minimum amount of hours of light seedlings need ~ anybody else know? More light the better though. If they get tall and skinny/lanky, you'll know they need more light. And if they're in a cold room, they'll grow slower, so start them eight or more weeks ahead of your last frost date to compensate. Just make sure the room doesn't get below freezing temps, and preferably not below 45 degrees or so ~ they won't necessarily die if they're that cold (-45), but they don't much like it. Also do seeds go bad? i would like to use them for a couple yrs. Tomato seeds can last four or five years without much lowering of viability provided you keep them in a cool, dry place without many fluctuations in temp and humidity. If you put them in a jar and in the fridge or freezer, they'll keep even better and longer. Just be sure to let the jar reach room temp before opening it so any moisture in the room air won't condense on the seeds. Moisture fluctuation one of the main killers of seeds ~ that and temp fluctuations. Good luck! If at first you don't succeed, figure out why and definitely try again.

I just spent considerable time trying to ascertain the effects of high temps on different peppers, both "hot" and "sweet". That thread is just below and is titled; "How will extreme heat and high humidity effect my peppers?" Most seem to agree that the bells are tough to grow in the hottest part of summer. I just purchased some seed of the "bell type" Keystone Giant. The feed-store guy was confident they would perform in the heat. It's only seeds-n-time! And water, fertilizer, compost,.. did I mention time? We're not supposed to discuss a whole lot about "Other Vegetables" here in pepper land. So here's the short version; These should do well for you; Cucumbers, melons, okra, peas, amaranth, collards, eggplant (the long, skinny oriental types are more productive in heat). Others include Jerusalem artichokes, Malabar spinach, New Zealand spinach, peanuts, hot peppers, and sweet peppers like Banana, Gypsy and Cubanelle should perform better than the bell types. Sweet potatoes enjoy the heat along with Swiss chard (with some shade), tomatillo and tomato. There are now many specific heat-tolerant tomatoes such as Heatwave, Solar Set and Sunleaper.... The Yardlong bean (asparagus bean) flourishes in the heat of summer and is as unusual as it is delicious. Of course, you should check with your local Cooperative Extention Service for more info. For more "other vegetable" questions, go to "Vegetable Gardening". Click on my username, then my "trade list" and email me with something you'd like to have, your address and, I'll send it to you New Guy. Ray

Azura, last year was my first real veggie garden, and I learned a lot. There were successes and failures, but I enjoyed it so much. Skybird is right about you wanting to make it bigger next year. I created a separate bed for the herbs this year, just so I could plant more veggies in veggie garden. So far, I planted onion sets and peas (twice). I also have five kinds of lettuce, and broccoli sprouts that were wintersown, that I might plant out as soon as the crazy winds die down. Plus there are tomatoes and peppers in my kitchen windowsill, and tomatoes that were wintersown but haven't germinated yet. I'm also direct sowing carrots maybe this week, but the cucumbers, canteloupes, and beans won't get planted for another month or so. My goal is for as much variety as possible, even if it means just one or two plants of each - 5 kinds of beans, 4 kinds of canteloupe, 5 kinds of carrots, 4 kinds of cukes, 7 kinds of peppers, and as many different tomatoes as I can cram into the space that's left, and the Earthbox I just bought. I'd rather have too many plants and have to give some away, than to realize I have empty space in the garden, and not enough time to start something else before the end of the season. The bed and soil look great, and I wish you a bountiful harvest. Bonnie

I alphabetized your tomato's list and fixed some spelling. I can do your whole list if you like but you can add in your numbers..it makes looking for and trading easier :) You have some varieties I never heard of like Apielson. I'd love to hear more on your garden and see pictures. Please read my list and hopefully we can trade. I also am starting a community garden with over 100 varieties...for starter seed I can gladly save and return at harvest....we are..... well, here's the list followed by the First Fruits blurb. Apielson Orange Aunt RubyÂs German Green Aunt RubyÂs German Grape Australian Heart Beefsteak Big Rainbow Black From Tulsa Black Pear Black Zebra Cherokee Chocolate Elberta Peach Garden Peach Golden Jubilee Green Giant Green Zebra Hazle Mae Hess Japanese Black Triffle Kellogg's Breakfast Manyel Mashinka Pink Matt's Wild Cherry Mr. Stripey Nyagous Old Ivory Egg Ox Heart Persimmon Pineapple Pink Brandywine Principe Bourghese Red Zebra Silvery Fir Tree Striped Roman Super Snow White Thai Pink Egg Tigerovy White Queen Yellow Brandywine Yellow Pear Zapotec First Fruits Harvest Garden 4644 M-33 Hwy. Onaway, MI 49765 While there are many needs in other countries and hungry everywhere, the goals of First Fruits are to: *Feed the local community with organically grown, open pollinated, local vegetables. To be distributed through the FOOD Pantry currently established on site. *Provide a place for those who wish to grow their own produce and provide seed, etc. *Open pollinated seeds will be saved and used/given away. No hybrids will be used. This establishes a fresh Seed Bank as well. Current and future goals are: raised-bed gardens, grains, water supply, storage and greenhouse. We are asking for a tax deductible donation to start "seed" money for such a project. Should such a project fail, monies would be donated to the local food pantry and people would still be fed. Projected Budget- $500 establishes the garden plot including seed. $3600 establishes a greenhouse and storage area. Overall projected budget of operation to start is $4100. After the initial investment maintenance follows and the budget reduces. Thank you for helping Project Manager, Earl Bassett