Spring Gardening Resources

If you have ever dreamed of growing a garden, it can be a daunting task. However, there are many resources that can help you plan and grow and a garden, whether it is a container garden or a whole field of fruit, vegetables, flowers, and more. Today, I plan to share a plethora of good Spring gardening resources that can help you in growing your gardening skills.

Websites

• Proven Winners
• Better Homes and Gardens
• Martha Stewart
• Southern Living Plants
• The Homestead Challenge
• The Spruce
• Almanac
• Purdue
• Martha Stewart
• Trend Spot
• The Spruce
• USDA
• Kids Gardening
• Purdue
• Hoosier Gardener
• Purdue – Advice for First Time Gardeners
• Hoosier Gardener – Resources
• The Indy Public Library Seed Library
• Garden Club of Indiana
• IU Spring Gardening Tips
• Marion County Indiana Master Gardeners Association
• Indiana Native Plants
• IU The Green Staffer
• Indiana Grown
• My Indiana Home
• The Indy Public Library Blog
• Save the Dunes

News

• Good Morning America
• Indiana Public Media
• Bob Vila
• Country Living
• National Park Service

Books and Magazines

• Spring Gardening Magazine Issue 32
• Midwest Fruit and Vegetable Gardening
• The Joy of Raised Bed Gardening for Beginners
• All New Square Foot Gardening
• Gardening Know How – The Complete Guide to Vegetable Gardening
• Four Season Food Gardening
• The First Time Gardener – Container Food Gardening
• Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio Month By Month Gardening
• The Vegetable Garden Pest Handbook
• Beginner’s Guide to Growing Fruit Trees Fast and Easy
• Container Gardening The Permaculture Way
• Kitchen Garden Revival
• The First Time Gardener Spring Edition
• The Family Garden Plan
• Bird Friendly Gardening
• Complete Container Herb Gardening
• Indoor Kitchen Gardening
• The Layered Edible Garden
• The Cottage Garden
• Midwest Gardener’s Handbook
• The Elegant and Edible Garden

Starting Seeds Indoors

• My Experience Starting Seeds with the Jiffy Tomato & Vegetable Greenhouse: Part 1
• My Experience: Starting Seeds in Cardboard Egg Cartons

Where to Find Free Seeds

• Save seeds from foods you use in the kitchen (tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, squash).
• Save onion bottoms with the roots from foods you use in the kitchen.
• Host or attend a seed exchange at your local library.
• Free Heirloom Seeds – I have gotten some seeds from this website before.
• Robin Greenfield Seeds for the People
• Everbloom Seeds
• Just Bee
• Step by Step Inc.
• Charlotte Noar

Join in on the conversation!

I always love hearing from my readers, so feel free to comment on this post. Or start a conversation on X.com/sarahderinger88.

• Are you struggling with knowing where and how to start gardening?
• Do you find yourself wishing you could grow things all year round rather than being stunted by the growing season?
• What are some other resources that you would recommend for learning about gardening year-round?
• What are some other resources that you would recommend for beginning gardening or spring gardening?
• Where else do you know of that you can get free seeds?

My 2024 Garden Plans

“Watching something grow is good for morale. It helps us believe in life.”

Myron Kaufmann

I enjoy gardening to see what I can grow and harvest, and this year, I have plans to grow these plants:

• Tomatoes
• Onions
• Watermelon
• Perennial Wildflowers
• Rudbeckia
• Zinnia
• Coreopsis
• Sunflower
• Lavender
• Cilantro
• Spaghetti Squash
• Yellow Squash
• Zucchini
• Pumpkin
• Sweet Corn
• Cucumber
• Carrot
• Green bean
• Thyme
• Strawberries
• and some more flowers

Migardener Brandywine Black Tomato

Migardener Mr. Stripey Tomato

Livingston Bush Beefsteak Tomato

Livingston Independence Day Tomato

Burpee’s Early Pick Hybrid VF Tomato

Burpee’s Bush Early Girl Hybrid Tomato

Burpee’s Fourth of July Hybrid Tomato

Burpee’s Porterhouse Hybrid Tomato

Migardener Brandywine Pink Tomato

Migardener Delicious Tomato

Migardener Brandywine Yellow Tomato

Migardener Granny Cantrells Tomato

Onion starts

Onion starts planted

Burpee and Ferry-Morse Watermelon

Livingston and Burpee’s flowers

Livingston Sunflower and Burpee’s Lavender

Livingston Cilantro

Livingston Squash and Burpee’s Pumpkin

Burpee’s On Deck Hybrid (Sh2) Sweet Corn

Burpee’s and Livingston Cucumbers

Livingston Onions

Livingston Carrots

Livingston Kentucky Wonder Beans

“An addiction to gardening is not all bad when you consider all the other choices in life.”

Cora Lea Bell

Starting Tomato Seeds Indoors

I have just this week started my tomato seeds. I use the Jiffy Seed Starting Greenhouses, and what I did was order more planting pellets which allows me to use the same greenhouse boxes rather than continually buying new ones. To use these, add warm water to the pellets which allows them to rise. Then you add in three-four seeds in each pellet of whichever type of tomato or pepper you are trying to plant. Then close the dirt over the seeds. Then place the lids on top of the boxes, and if you think your seeds need more light, use a grow light to help them grow. In a few weeks, you will be able to take the lids off when all the seeds have started and you see spouts.

Jiffy Seed Tray Greenhouses with the pellets

Add warm water to your pellets

Place 3-4 seeds in your wetted pellets

Place lids over the boxes and add a grow light if desired.

“God Almighty first planted a garden. And indeed, it is the purest of human pleasures.”

Francis Bacon

Start a Garden

If you want to start a garden this year, here are some tips and resources to get started:

• Find your USDA Hardiness Growing Zone. This will help you know when to start seeds and plant. My zone is 6a, which means that in mid-May, I can start planting outside.
• Look through a few different seed companies. I typically use Burpee, Gurney’s, Baker Creek Seeds, Ferry-Morse, Botanical Interests, MIGardener, and St. Clare Seeds.
• Order which ones you would like to plant in your growing zone. You can also look at your local stores to see what they are offering; local stores will have what is in your growing zone.
• Look at the average dates on the back of the seed packets (and compare to the Hardiness Growing Zone map) to know when to start seeds indoors and plant seeds outside. Also use the planting instructions as far as depth and ways of planting that are listed on the seed packets.
• Find the best place to plant around your property, whether in the ground in a sunny garden or in a window box for your apartment.
• Try a garden journal so that you can keep track of planting dates and what worked and what did not work.
• My Experience Starting Seeds with the Jiffy Tomato & Vegetable Greenhouse: Part 1
• My Experience: Starting Seeds in Cardboard Egg Cartons
• Gardening Resources
• Garden Update

“There are no gardening mistakes, only experiments.”

Janet Kilburn Phillips

You do not have to be perfect at gardening, and it is quite a bit like experimenting. I have not yet harvested a crop of good sweet corn, and I am still experimenting with different ways of growing corn. If you keep a garden journal, you can start seeing patterns in gardening issues, and then you can try new ideas of how to make your garden grow better. You can try a new gardening container or try moving the garden to a place with more sun or more shade. You can try flower boxes or an open field. The possibilities with gardening are endless.

Join in on the Conversation

I always love hearing from my readers. Feel free to comment below, or join the conversation on X.com by following my account (x.com/sarahderinger88).

• Have you ever had a garden?
• What was your favorite part about gardening?
• What fruits, vegetables, herbs, and plants does your family enjoy to grow?
• What seed companies do you recommend?
• What are your tips on growing sweet corn in zone 6a?

My Experience: Starting Seeds in Cardboard Egg Cartons

This spring and summer, I decided I wanted to see if I have a green thumb or not. So I decided to try starting seeds in egg cartons after I watched a friend try it out first. I’m surprised and pleased to say that I can at least start seeds in egg cartons!

To prepare, I looked up a few articles on starting seeds in egg cartons. These were the articles I looked at:

• Home Guides
• Harvest To Table
• A YouTube Video by The Professional Prepper
• Mother Earth News

I started out with these seeds in egg cartons: cactus, a variety of flowers, cilantro, tomatoes, radishes. So far one set of flowers hasn’t shown much promise, even though there is a sprout or two. I have yet to see any growth from the cactus seeds at all.

After my dad and I were able to plant them outdoors, we also planted sweet corn, summer squash, winter squash, green beans, more tomatoes, turnips, and sunflower seeds. Later on, my mom and I planted the flowers around our house.

Things I learned from starting the seeds in egg cartons:

• If you start the seeds in your home, have a plastic trash bag and maybe even a cardboard box underneath the cartons to catch and hold the water from dripping everywhere. This was a great idea that my dad had.
• Not everything will grow. Sometimes some seeds just won’t grow. Don’t be afraid to try anyway.
• Some seeds need a longer time to grow before you see any growth on the surface. Don’t give up on it too soon.
• You may need to only water them every other day in order not to over-water them.
• When you plant them, you may need to leave each of the seedlings in the egg carton circle because the roots like to grow through the cardboard egg cartons.
• When you move them and plant them outdoors, the bugs will most likely swarm your new plants. A lot of bugs flew around my newly planted cilantro.
• When moving the plants outdoors, the plants will be in shock at first, so expect them to droop a bit. However, before long, they’ll adjust and grow stronger.
• Mark where you plant your flowers and other seedlings with some sort of tag, so you’ll hopefully know what is a weed versus a plant.
• Pay close attention to the description on the label. If the instructions say that your plant likes sun, place your plant in a place that gets lots of sunlight, or get a sun lamp.
• Some seeds don’t grow well with others. Here’s a few great resources to find out which ones pair well and which ones don’t.
  • Farmer’s Almanac
  • Good Housekeeping
  • Country Living
• It’s more fun to plant flowers and seeds with someone else because it’s a lot of work!

The whole process of planting seeds and growing plants is an experiment, and there’s lots of things we can learn. We’ll see what grows!