How to Create a Plan for Seed Starting
I have been growing the majority of my veggies from seed for about 5 years now. It is the most cost-effective way to grow in my opinion. There are so many different varieties of seeds you can grow. That’s the thing I love most about growing from seed, you can grow varieties of vegetables that you can’t get at the store. Starting seeds for your whole garden can feel daunting when you’re just starting. I find making a plan and having a tracker have helped so much. Here’s how to create a seed-starting plan for your garden!
How to Create a Plan for Seed Starting
I used this system for the first time last year and it took all the guesswork out of starting my seeds. I knew what seeds I was starting on what day. Also, when it came time to plant out my plant starts, I knew exactly where I was going to plant them!
Inventory Seeds
The first thing I do is take inventory of my seed collection. I have written down what I want to grow in the coming season so this allows me to see what I have and what I need to buy. This prevents any unnecessary seed purchases. I recommend that you have all the seeds you want to grow before starting on the next steps.
Sort Your Seeds
Start by writing down your estimated last frost date on a piece of paper. You can find this date on the Farmer’s Almanac website. My estimated last frost date is March 29th. Next, I pick a day of the week to start my seeds which is Saturday. It is just the day I have free most often during this seed starting time. You can start seeds on any day of the week that works for you. So, from the last frost date, I go backward and write down every Saturday until the end of January and then also every Saturday after the first date through April.
The photo below is of my dates from 2023.
Next, sort your seed packets by variety. So all the tomatoes you’re going to grow are together, all the peppers, greens, roots, etc. Look at the back of each seed packet to find when they recommend to start the seeds inside. Count backward from the last frost date however many weeks it says and write that variety down on that day. So, if the packet says start 8-10 weeks before last frost, I would count back 10 Saturdays before 3/29 and put that down. Sort that packet into a separate pile and repeat for each packet. Each Saturday will have its own pile. It will be easiest to use a post-it to label each date.
Bundle Your Seeds
Secure each pile with a rubber band along with the post-it note. I have 3 of these clear photo sorter containers that are empty so I put the first three Saturdays coming up in those bins. Now I go to my tracker and enter each date and what seeds I will be starting that day. On the tracker there are other columns like direct sow (DS) or Indoors, and where in my garden I am planning to plant each start. I draw a rough map of my backyard and designate each grow zone with a letter. These letters are what I put in the “Where to grow” column.
You can purchase the seed starting tracker I have in my Etsy shop or you can create a spreadsheet of your own like I did last year in my gardening journal. I would add a column to keep track of when I start hardening off certain plants and also when I plant them out. I hope you found this helpful, let me know if you have any questions in the comments below!
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