Ready or not, sunny or not...

I can't wait for some dry days, when I can get these seedlings out of the house, and into bigger pots, outdoors, preferably with a bit of sun. I can't wait to put seeds into paper cups and paper cups into bigger pots, and then bigger pots into the soil.

An explanation:
When I have some special seeds I've saved or bought, seeds that might not be available in starter packages at the local nursery, I begin them in paper cups,  filled with seed starter soil and provided with a couple of drainage holes at the bottom.

In a couple of weeks, some of these tiny starters will be ready to transplant to bigger pots.  Instead of transplanting, I score off the bottom of the cups so they fall off, and plop the entire thing, in a bigger pot.  This way the seedlings are not disturbed at all. 

Two or three healthy plants per cup are all I save.

When I can separate the plants, I will then transplant outdoors, a month or two from today. 
The process is long and I might end up with just half a dozen plants total.

Growing your own is most rewarding. 
You start with seeds from a place like Territorial, an organic seed supplier, and use products that are organic all the way.

Now, big seeds, fava, peas, beans, radishes, squash, they can go directly in the garden.
What if you didn't have a plot of land?
If you have a place to plop a pot, go ahead, grow some herbs for your kitchen.  Select those you like to cook with and put them all in one pot.  The more you pinch them, and use them up, the more they will grow, and will delay going to seed.  In the end, if they do go to seed, don't despair.  Collect the seeds, and do what I do, start them in paper cups for next season.

Happy Growing.

Note: The plants in the picture are poppies,papaveri,  from Franchi Sementi, an organic product from Bergamo, Italy.
I found these in my local nursery, and couldn't resist getting a piece of home in my Northwest Garden.  They did well last year, btw.