My last blog post on flower gardening, I talked about soil testing and why it’s important. And now it’s time to finally start my seeds. It’s March here in Michigan. We’ve had one week when Spring teased us, but after living in Michigan for 10 years, I knew it wasn’t here to stay. February is the time in Michigan when you start preparing for your gardens. I’m a little late, but I’m not stressing over it. Moving forward is what matters. I’d like to get this finished by the end of the second week in March.
My goal is to make the process as simple as possible. Here are the tools I purchased.
Supplies
Soil
For the soil I decided to purchase potting soil and seed starting potting mix. I’m going to mix it all together and then use the mixture to start my seeds. As a beginner, I researched what soil to use and I’ve found that everyone just does what works for them. I’m hoping this works for me. In the future, I’ll tweak my approach based on what I learn this year.
Containers
I’m using homemade peat pots. There was no super important reason I choose to use peat pots. They just seemed like they would do the job.
Indoor Green House
I looked at a lot of different indoor green houses! This fit our needs perfectly. And I love that it includes grow lights.
Yoga Mat
Now, I’m improvising on this and I’m not sure if it will work. But the plastic trays online seemed overpriced. So I decided to get a waterproof yoga mat to cut up into pieces and put under my seedlings. I may wrap it in plastic wrap, too. But the mat will be easily sized to exactly what I need which will allow me to fit as many peat pots on top as possible.
Seeds
And of course you need to get seeds. I ordered my seeds from Eden Brothers. They offer a ton of organic seeds to choose from on their website. Picking out the seeds and what flowers and herbs I wanted to plant was my favorite part of this whole process!!
Conclusion
I’ve never done a flower garden before, and I admit I’m a bit nervous. There will be a mixture of herbs and flowers together, and I just wonder if they will live. Ha. I hope they do. I’m doing this mostly for the bees. I want to use the herbs for herbalism, but more than that I want to give my bees the environment they need to thrive. If any of you have beginner tips for starting seeds, I love to hear them!
