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So much learning, and you get to keep it for a lifetime! This mini course is designed to guide you through the entire process of starting your own seeds indoors. You will learn everything from terms to know, to lighting needs, soil amendments, timing and transplant care, plus so much more! While I do not have any plans for a live workshop or 1:1 calls in this course, I do want you to feel free to reach out to me if you have any burning questions that do not get addressed through your learning in the existing chapters and videos here. Email is the best way to get a hold of me. You can reach me at hannamatchbox@gmail.com. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy all the information I have in store for you. Have fun, get creative, and enjoy your time in this course! Your Farmer, Hanna P.S. I love seeing your progress once your season starts! Please feel free to join our private Facebook Group here Growing Your Organic Garden Oasis You can ask questions, and share your experiences on your growing journey!

It's important to be prepared with all the equipment you will need for your seedlings. This can be done on a shoe string budget or as a luxury, the choice is yours! During this section we'll cover everything from containers and labels, to a well stocked work station. Reference Sheet – A Quick Guide To Determine Your Container Needs This reference sheet presumes the use of 1” cells or pots for seeding. Potting up refers to the task of planting your seedlings into a larger pot so they can increase both their vegetative size as well as their root structure. Why do we pot up? This action provides your plant with more room to grow so that you have a big, healthy plant when it’s time to set them out to your garden. It also provides additional nutrients when you pot up into fresh soil,this in turn, supports more robust growth. There are a few exceptions to this rule which are detailed below. These particular species have at least one of the following in common –they are fast growers and require little time indoors before planting to the garden and/or they have sensitive root systems that are susceptible to “transplant shock”. Direct Seed into 1 Container. No potting up, just transplant out to your garden in the spring: Alliums: Onions, Green Onions, Leeks Brassicaes: Broccoli, Brussels Sprouts, Cabbage, Cauliflower Cucurbits: Melon, Cucumber, Squash, Pumpkin, Gourds Lettuce Flowers: Zinnia, Sunflowers Plants that require 1 round of potting up: Herbs: Basil, Chives, Catnip, Lemon Balm, Lavender, Oregano, Parsley, Sage, Thyme Greens: Swiss Chard, Kale, Collards Flowers: Bachelor’s Buttons, Calendula, Chamomile, Nasturtiums, Marigolds Plants that benefit from 2 rounds of potting up: Herbs: Parsley, Oregano, Thyme Flowers: Marigolds, Chamomile, Calendula Nightshades: Eggplant, Ground Cherry, Peppers, Tomatillos, Tomato

This quick video discusses and demonstrates the methods used here at the farm for potting up and maintaining healthy tomato seedlings.

This video offers a full discussion and demonstration of how you can start and maintain your own sweet potatoes each year.

Start off your program by giving some basic information about what participants can expect to learn. Introduce the topic and provide a basic outline of what's to come using videos, images, and text.

This guide will help you create your own planting schedule for your seedlings. While the note at the top indicates Last Frost Date for the Hamilton region, you can apply this guide to anywhere you live. Print this off to use a reference when you get to your planning time!

A 30 minute video tutorial where I discuss a little about all the aspects of seedling production. I'm sure it will spark some questions for you all. Please leave them in the comments below and I will address them as soon as possible.

There is much to take into account when starting seeds indoors! This section will give you an overview of materials and growing mediums with a focus on lighting. To learn more about the how's and why's of lighting for indoors growing, open the pdf below.

What we add to our seedling mix is just as important as what we add to our garden soil. This section details the different amendments and soil mediums that can be used in your seedling soil mix.

This worksheet has a demonstration portion at the top to show you how to enter your information and get the numbers you need to determine what type of each container size you need. These numbers will help you determine your soil requirements. In order to get to these numbers you will have to determine what each species you are growing needs in terms of container size and transplant resilience. You can revisit our Container Reference Sheet to help you make this decision. Once you have sorted out your containers, you can move onto soil amount requirements. There is a link in the spreadsheet that will take you to a soil requirement calculator. I have included this to make it easier and more accurate to determine how much soil you need. Once you have your total soil amount needed you can then divide that number by the number of growing mediums you plan to use in your seedling starter mix. For example: I have 60, 3.5" pots. They are 3.5x3.5x35". This means I need 1.49 cubic feet or 44.55 quarts or 0.06 cubic yards. From here I look at my Growing Medium Recipe which calls for 3 equal parts growing mediums: Seed starting mix, fish compost, and horse compost(this is my personal preference). 44.55 quarts/3=14.85 quarts of each will get me enough growing medium to fill all 60, 3.5" pots. I highly recommend getting a little extra of everything so that you have breathing room for accidents, miscalculations or any other unforeseen issues that may come up. If you have extra left at the end of the seedling production season, you can save it for the following year, dump it in your compost, or add it to your garden or outdoor containers.

This video covers a variety of aspects involved in caring for your seedlings. You'll see potting up techniques and more.

Nutrient deficiencies, pest issues, general plant health, and watering. All of these are covered in this section on care and maintenance to keep your plant babies healthy for transplant time.