Our season of classes started off with a roar this weekend!  Thank you everyone for your understanding as we use a temporary location for our ‘classroom’ until our new space is finished.  At least it was warm and dry, and maybe that’s all we need from a classroom in January…

Ernie Carlson from Botanical Interests Seeds gave a  great talk on what we should be thinking about now for seed-starting.  Over the next few days, I’ll post some seed-starting pointers, for those of you who missed the class.  And if you’d like copies of his handouts, they can be found at http://www.botanicalinterests.com/gardening_tips.php.  There is a handy chart, “Indoor Spring Sowing Guide,” which lists how many weeks in advance to start seeds indoors, before it is safe to plant outside.  A very useful reference.

Before starting seeds indoors, however, you need to know when our last frost occurs.  Most resources will  confirm that in the Portland metro area, we are usually safely out of frost danger after April 26.  Naturally, that is dependent upon where you live – higher elevations will be later, and unique micro-climates can vary widely.  So be aware, if you are planting out some tender things towards the end of April and into early May, be aware of the weather forecast, and protect your fragile babies if needed.

But for seed-starting indoors, that date is your general guideline.  Use the Indoor Spring Sowing Guide with that date in mind, as you plan.  For instance,  let’s say you want to start some kale seeds – and the chart says to start them indoors 6 weeks before average last spring frost.  So, looking at the calendar, you will want to start those seeds about March 15th.  Make sense?  When grown under the right conditions and from the correct starting date, your seedlings should be ready to plant out when the weather is just right for them!

Next time we’ll talk about the best materials to use, and the all-important LIGHT issue.