Here's a photo I took today of my sweet pea 'High Scent' seedlings. They are almost too tall for the milk jugs now. Hoping to plant them out soon...still constructing a "ground-hog free" area for them. We managed to find an old iron garden fence to construct a ground-hog barrier with. Hopefully the sweet peas will grow through and around the openings in the fence...may need to add some string for them to climb on? ellenr, I don't really know how tall sugar snap peas will grow, but that's great you are growing an edible pea...I have yet to grow anything edible in my current garden due to the groundhogs (sigh). I heard they will even eat ornamental sweet peas like the ones I'm growing, even though humans are not supposed to eat them. Found an article about the sugar snap peas online (see link). Seems like there are different kinds of sugar snaps...some get to be 6 feet, but some are a bush variety. Here is a link that might be useful: Growing Sugar Snap Peas - Tips on How to Grow Sugar Snap Peas

OK, I did a better job with my google search the second time around and found that a lot of people leave out the seeds because of the cyanide. So I'll throw out the cores. I think I'll use Carol's advice from another thread and let the juice sit overnight to separate & then put it through a coffee filter. Then I'll make jelly from it like that without dripping, since I don't care whether it's cloudy. Looks like half a batch of what's recommended on the Pomona's package, but that's fine, two jars will be plenty & I have to reprocess three unsealed jars of applesauce anyway. Not sure why those didn't seal, the headspace was fine & they didn't boil out. I did have them wedged into the canner, so maybe the rings were kind of holding up the jars. Melissa

It depends upon how much time you have to care for seedlings before they are tranplanted into permanent spots in the garden. If you are growing garden annuals that you want blooming as soon as they go into the ground they need to be started indoors several weeks ahead of your planting date. Seed packets will offer germination information to guide you...keep in mind that the information on the back of the packet is based upon ideal circumstances. Most garden perennials do not bloom their first year from seed so they can be started anytime. Starting indoors will require care to prevent damp-off and repotting if felt necessary. Outdoor germination you will need to protect the soil from desiccation by wind and sun, the seedlings should also be protected from slugs or snails, if a hail storm is coming you can help protect young direct-sown seedlings by turning an old laundry basket over them for the duration of the storm. Direct-sown seedlings are often a tasty treat for birds and bunnies. A scarecrow and fencing can help protect the seedlings from critter damage, however a starving animal will ignore devices used to deter or scare them away. Vegetable packets offer a "days to maturity" guideline to suggest when to sow your seeds. Those days are generally based upon how long it takes to grow the first ripe produce after a seedling is about four inches high, those dates are not indicative of how many days needed to produce ripe fruit after germination. Germination requirements can vary from species to species, though some plant families may have similar requirements. If you have no seed packet to read for germination requirements then you can look up the information on the internet by typing in the plant name + germination. The information may also be found in books at the library. Winter Sowing, done outdoors, goes on all throughout winter. See the Winter Sowing Forum FAQs for information. There is also forum with FAQs for Starting Seeds Under Lights.

Wait till you see the top of the soil beginning to look wet and then remove the water from the tray. If the soil is good and absorbent, it shouldn't take more than a few minutes. I never water seeds from the top. Did you work water into the potting mix with your hands first before putting it into pots and planting the seeds?