I see it everywhere I go. We've all got the itch this year. Maybe it's the open winter, or maybe it's because last year's gardening season never got off the ground due to a wet spring.
Whatever the reason, people are ready to garden. The good news is . . . why wait? Even though we won't be able to begin outdoor gardening for several more weeks in most areas of the Northeast, we can scratch the gardening itch by planting seeds indoors.
Not tomatoes, mind you. Everyone wants to start these just as soon as possible, but the plants will be better off if you can wait another month - unless you have a good grow-light system or greenhouse set-up to give the seedlings enough light. Plenty of other plants can be started now from seed, including most perennial flowers and pansies, along with lettuce, cabbage, eggplant, pepper, parsley and some of the long-season melon crops.
Two or three weeks from now, you also get the seed-starting green light with most annual flowers, along with onions, leeks, Brussels sprouts, celerac and celery. By April 1, you can go ahead and start anything that will tolerate transplanting. Understand that a great many seeds would rather be direct-seeded into the garden, including corn, carrots, cucumbers, beans, radishes and peas.
I won't bother rehashing seed-starting instructions here, since most seed cataloguers provide perfectly good how-to information on the packages. Instead, let me take a moment to review some terms commonly associated with seeds. You can even give yourself a glossary quiz at the end!
Certified Organic - These are seeds harvested from organically grown plants, meaning the parents were not treated with synthetic fertilizers or pesticides. You can grow these seeds with synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, but that would be missing the point. Truly organic food and flowers begins with organic seeds . . . and probably, more importantly, helps support the organic farms that produced the seeds.
Disease Resistant - Some seeds are bred to be resistant to fungi, bacteria or viruses. These traits are typically noted on the seed packages.
Genetically Engineered - Seeds that have been mechanically altered in the laboratory may carry genes from an unrelated species of plants or animals. These seeds are patented and may not be saved and replanted in future years. These are also not allowed in strict organic gardening operations. Unfortunately, the United States is one of the few developed nations in the world that does not require genetically engineer seeds to be labeled.
Heirloom - An older type of seed that is "open-pollinated" (see below), heirlooms have survived multiple generations through the collection efforts of seed companies and dedicated gardeners.
Inoculant - A material, typically a seed coating, that protects the seed from disease or pathogen in the soil, or otherwise helps the seed to germinate more readily or quickly.
Hybrid - cross-pollinated variety of seed that resulted from the breeding of two parents typically within the same species of plants. The resulting seeds of hybrid plants often do not produce offspring that look anything like the parent plants.
Open-Pollinated - This seed can reproduce itself year after year because the resulting plants resist cross-pollination with other related species of plants.
Tolerant - These are seeds that can withstand pressure from environmental stresses, including drought, cold, heat or insects.
Treated/Untreated - Seeds may or may not have protective coatings known as "inoculants" (see above) that protect from diseases and insects, or aid in germination. All treated seeds are typically labeled.
Variety - Often used interchangeably with "hybrid," the term is often used to distinguish seeds within species, such as pole beans from bush beans, or early green cabbage from savoy green cabbage.
-Paul Tukey - March 1, 2006
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