Estabrook's Garden Newsletter

Start Your Own Vegetable Garden and Save!

Start vegetables from seed this winter and save on your grocery bill

If one of your resolutions for 2009 was to save money, there's no better place to start than your grocery bill. Growing your own vegetables will not only reduce the costly price of produce from your budget, it will also help you take pride and enjoy your meals that much more.

You can start your vegetable garden today by selecting and planting seeds. It's important to start slow-growing vegetables early in order to assure they'll be ready for harvest. By sowing indoors, you'll also have a wider choice of varieties and have the option of growing many more new and unusual selections.

Selecting Seeds

To get started, you'll have to select your seeds. Plan ahead by looking at the information on the back of the seed packets and note the germination time. Make sure to start your seeds in time for them to be transferred to your garden once the weather warms up. You can also find this information in the Seeds section of our website.

Organize Your Supplies

Vegetable seeds need water, warmth and light to grow. There was a time when you needed a very specific environment to grow seeds, but with the aid of heated seed mats and grow lights, you can quickly assemble a "germination station" almost anywhere. Estabrook's has everything you need to get started, including many popular Jiffy all-in-one greenhouses.

Start Planting!

Proper planting is a critical aspect of your success. Follow these simple instructions to get your seeds off to a great start:

• Moisten your soil mix and scoop it into seed-starting flats or containers.
• Determine the planting depth of the seed from the instructions on the seed-starting packet.
• Insert large seeds into the soil with the finger-thumb method. Smaller seeds can be hard to sow in small numbers, so mix them with a little sand for bulk. Add a light layer of growing medium to cover the seeds.
• Water the flats using a fine spray. Gushes of water may unearth the seeds. Always use lukewarm water.
• Cover the flat with a clear plastic cover until the seeds germinate (this will help conserve moisture evaporation). It's vital that you keep the seeds moist or they will not germinate properly.