Starting your Own Seeds isn’t a Big Deal

I broke one of the pots. Little tomato baby is fine. Photo by author.

I recently watched the gardening MasterClass by Ron Finely, which was really fun and educational. I’ve been gardening all my life, and I learned from the class, but it is also accessible to people new to gardening.

I was not really surprised to hear Ron say that he’s not a fan of starting his own seeds. My mother has been gardening all her life (so 28 years longer than me. See photo below!) and she also doesn’t start her own seeds. Both of these master gardeners, and lots of others I know, go to garden centers and buy seedlings to pop in the ground.

Quarantine has been good for my mother’s garden. Photo by author’s hippie goddess mother.

I get it. There is a certain satisfaction in taking a toddler kale plant and seeing it quickly grow strong and robust. It’s nice to be able to plant lettuce and harvest within a few weeks, or to take a sturdy tomato plant, plant it nice and deep, and see it grow tall before your eyes. My mom will also direct sow a lot of things, like lettuce, spinach, and kale, but I find that stressful because I’m not good at weeding consistently.

I happen to really love starting my own seeds, and I want to encourage everyone who has thought about doing it — it really isn’t a big deal, and offers it’s own kind of gardening fun.