This time of year, I find myself pouring over seed catalogs.  I love getting them in the mail.  Invariably I start imagining my garden filled with all sorts of unusual and wonderful varieties of heirloom vegetables and herbs.

In the end, I usually go with some tried and true favorites… and a few new experiments thrown in.

I am not a master gardener.

I just thought I should disclose that before I give advice.

I am a practical gardener, I try to do things the easy and inexpensive way.  And I’ve made a lot of mistakes… which I try hard not to repeat.

I love to plant from seed because it saves money and is very rewarding.  But I’ve also found, it isn’t always worth doing.  I’ve struggled with tomatoes and peppers, for instance.  They grow wonderfully in the beginning, but are leggy and weak by the time I plant them in my garden.  So for some plants, I still buy the seedlings from the nursery.

Here are the plants I grow from seed every year with great success:

• peas, shell and sugar snap  (depending on where you live it’s time or almost time to plant these directly into the garden- I plant them in March where I live here in Utah)
• my favorite flowering sweet peas (planted at the same time as the peas)
• lettuce – usually red leaf, buttercrunch, and sometimes a lettuce mix
• spinach
• arugula
• carrots
• radishes
• beans
• pumpkin
• squash
• basil
• nasturiums
• sunflowers
• cosmos
• morning glory and moon flower vines
• corn (I have great success growing the seedlings… I have trouble growing corn in my very limited space.)

Most of these seeds I direct sow into my garden.   I start a few things indoors… but not too many, just enough for fun, but not so many that I’m overwhelmed with their care and my limited sunny windows.

A few other tips that are helpful:

• Share seeds with a friend or neighbor.  I rarely plant a whole packet of anything.  Sharing stretches your dollar even more.
• You can save seeds from a partially used packet until next year.  Just save them in a cool, dry place (my basement pantry).  But remember, older seeds won’t germinate quite as well.
• Sow succession plantings of seeds like lettuce, arugula and spinach.  We can never use it all at once, but if you sow a smaller amount every week or two in the Spring, you will keep a steady, delicious crop, just perfect for eating without wasting.
• GET THE KIDS INVOLVED.  If you are a parent or grandparent, or even an aunt or uncle…. have the kids help you plant from seed.  Not only do they love it, but it brings you closer together and teaches many valuable lessons.

Here are Lily and Emma planting seeds in our saved egg cartons last Spring.  It was a wonderful project, and our seedlings were quite successful.

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