Seeds from start to harvest.

This project is part of the Raised Garden Beds project, however I wanted to show the progress of all my seeds from the time I started germinating them (and how) to the time I harvest time. I wanted to show how I overcame problems like bugs, infestations and weather to how I was able to get the most out of my seeds using greenhouse techniques, natural fertilizers and care.
This page will be mostly pictures with a few captions here and there but comments are more than welcome!

When it came to germinating my seeds, I started a little early. This year we chose to grow tomatoes, bell peppers, jalapeno peppers, onions, lettuce, sugar snap peas, corn, zuchinni, crook neck, oregano, cilantro and basil. I love to make pizza and last year with the tomatoes we grew, my wife and I made pizza sauce. Having a lot of success with that, we decided this year to grow everything we would need for our sauce. The only thing I think I am really missing is the garlic. :) We started the germination process in small ziploc bags with a wet paper towel inside in the beginning of March.

It is important to keep all your seeds in direct sunlight and with enough moisture to sprout. After many of the seeds starting sprouting it was time to transplant them into starter kits.The one I chose came with a "greenhouse" lid. This were moved over 2 weeks after germination.

This is 3 weeks after germination.

Many of the bigger plants like corn, zuchinni and crook neck needed to be moved into bigger containers so they could keep growing.

The above are the plants at 4 weeks. 

It was starting to get a little cold in the house where I was keeping the plants, so I decided to get a little creative and make my miniature greenhouses for each of the plants and their container.

I took a bag of Shis-cabob (???) sticks and tied them together with yarn. I took a 5th stick and laid it across the top like a tent. Then I measured to right length of plastic wrap, attached tape to one end and wrapped it over the top. After taping that side down I cut two more pieces to use for the ends. I taped the bottoms of the sides down too and wrapped the top of it over the support sticks. Trying to get the plastic wrap as tight as possible I placed them back in the sunlight. I have monitored them for a couple days now and the plastic wrap seems to be helping the plants get their nice green color back, as well as a little more strength.

Now into the start of week 5 and outside in the garden beds I have my peas starting to show through. 

Boy am  I getting EXCITED. :)

I decided this week my zucchini plants are to big to stay in the container they are in. I went outside and planted them in the raised bed and I put about 2 plants to a hole. I place them about 18" apart from each other and also as close the the soaker hose as possible for the best watering. 

To make sure an unexpected chill does not kill the plants, I purchased a few "hot caps" from the nursery and covered them.

Recently I had to cover some of my plants with a make shift greenhouse using plastic wrap and sticks. To all of you who would like to try this, let me stop you there. This was a bad idea. I am not sure if the plastic wrap held in too much moisture or too much heat but, I ended up with a lot of mold and mushrooms. Many of the plants I had in the containers ended up dying. It only lasted a few days. Good news is, it is still early enough in the year I can replant!!!

CHECK IN EVERY WEEK FOR A STATUS UPDATE!!!!