Tomatoes, green beans and daisies, OH MY!

We started plants indoors last month. For those of you who live in warmer climates, we start ours indoors to give them a chance to grow before removing them to the outdoors and the elements. If we did not, the growing season would not yield all that it could.

This year, we tried starting plants in paper egg cartons. Despite our best efforts to keep them warm and moist, the seeds did not pop up, even after three weeks. We put the prepared dirt in a bag, and the egg cartons in the recycling bin. Then we took a trip to the big-box store.

We bought 2 (count 'em) Jiffy Starter Greenhouses, along with new seeds. We got the kits home and followed the directions, only starting 144 little plants, having loads of seeds leftover for a second batch, even a third. We started green beans, tomatoes, watermelons, pumpkins, cucumbers, bell peppers, daisies and cosmos.

While we were at it, the kids wanted to try to plant directly in a planter, covering the planter with plastic wrap and keeping it moist, just like the Jiffy Greenhouse. OK, fine. And I remembered the trick of sprouting seeds on a plate covered with damp paper towels, then covering with a clear dish or plastic wrap. That experiment was tried, as well.

Below are photos of the greenhouses and paper towel sprouts. Both greenhouses look prety much the same, so I only inserted one. The direct planters are a bust.