Seeds or Seedlings?

Seeds or Seedlings?

This morning on CBS News Sunday Morning, Martha Stewart demonstrated how to plant seeds for a vegetable garden. It made me think about why I don’t begin with seeds.

Every spring, probably at the end of April, beginning of May, I pick up seedlings at a few local nurseries. I find seedlings to be fragile even when I buy them already sprouted, so the idea of really starting from scratch doesn’t appeal to me. I think I lack the patience to begin so slowly, even though I’m itching for the season to start.

I typically plant tomato and basil seedlings on the side of my house, and in the back I plant cucumbers. I often plant peppers, lettuce, and pumpkin but they’re not always as successful as my trusty cucumbers. In the past, my cucumber plants have somehow wound their way up nearby bushes and we often have many hanging, dangling cucumbers whimsically displayed throughout the summer.

Last year's dangling cucumbers

I love planting all those beloved seedlings directly into the ground and always look forward to the promise of their harvest.