Martha Is Already Getting Her Garden Ready for Spring—Here's How

Even though it's still winter on Martha's farm, she's already getting her garden ready for spring. In a recent blog post, she shared that she has begun the process of sowing flower seeds indoors so they're ready for planting once the threat of frost has passed.

"Every new year starts with seeds," Martha writes, explaining that she uses seeds she's purchased while traveling and seeds purchased online from Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Company, Johnny’s Selected Seeds, and Vilmorin.

Once the seeds arrive, Martha and her head gardener Ryan McCallister get straight to work. This year, their first trays include lupines, delphiniums, and campanulas. To start the process, Ryan "fills several trays with a pre-made seed starting mix that contains the proper amounts of vermiculite, perlite, and peat moss," Martha writes. 

After the trays are filled, Ryan makes a shallow hole in each cell of the tray by using a finger or the end of a marker. "The hole just needs to be big enough for the seed to be dropped in and then covered with more potting mix," Martha writes. The trays are labeled with small wooden markers, indicating the specific flower and variety being planted.

Ryan drops the seeds into the cells by hand, adding about two seeds for each cell. "Germination is never guaranteed, so multiple seeds are always planted. This provides a better chance at least one will take root," Martha writes. Once the seeds are sown, Ryan covers them with more potting mix, lightly patting the soil down so that the seeds have good contact with the soil.

All of the trays are watered deeply and some are placed into a commercial-sized urban cultivator, which provides the right amount of water, light, humidity, and air for the seeds to germinate. Seeds will germinate in about seven to 10 days if exposed to bright light and optimal temperatures (50 to 85 degrees Fahrenheit). As they germinate, the seedlings will get selectively thinned so the stronger ones continue growing.

Martha shared a picture of a lupine that has already poked through the soil after just three days. "We’re off to a great start. And then it’s back to starting more seeds, but we have many more trays to go. Seeds are usually started about two months before the last frost—we will be planting seeds well into March," she writes.