Planting from Seeds and Seedlings.

You can plant vegetable seeds indoors or outdoors. If you plant seeds indoors, you transplant them into your garden later. With direct seeding, you skip the indoor step and sow the seeds directly in your garden. If you're serious about growing vegetables, you'll probably end up using both options. Consider these points when making your choice:

* You get a jump on the growing season when you sow seeds indoors. This process is called seed starting (or starting, for short). If you start at the right time, you can have vigorous seedlings ready to go into the ground at the ideal time. In areas with short growing seasons, starting seedlings indoors really gives you a head start.

* The best candidates for an early start are plants that tolerate root disturbance and benefit from a jump on the season, including broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, celery, eggplant, leeks, onions, parsley, peppers, and tomatoes.

* Seeds are easier to start indoors than outdoors. You can more easily provide the perfect conditions for hard-to-germinate or very small seeds, including the ideal temperature, moisture, and fertility.

* Some vegetables don't like to be transplanted. These vegetables include many of the root crops, such as carrots, beets, turnips, and parsnips. They're cold-hardy vegetables, so you can direct seed them pretty early anyway. Crops like corn, beans, and peas are also pretty finicky about transplanting and grow better when you direct-seed...

Read more here: https://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/planting-vegetables-from-seed-and-seedling.html

How to Start Seeds Indoors. If you have the space for it, you can start your own seeds. Starting seeds indoors is easy and a lot less expensive than buying plants from a nursery. When you start your own seeds, you can grow unusual varieties of the plants you want to have in your garden.

1. Choose a seed-starting mix for your seeds.
Seed-starting mix (or germinating mix) is a specially formulated growing medium that promotes healthy seedlings. The most practical seed-starting mediums for gardeners are the commercially prepared soilless or peatlite mixes that are sold in most garden stores.
Don't use garden soil to start seeds indoors. Garden soil isn't light enough and may contain insects or diseases that can kill your tender seedlings.

2. Add warm water to moisten the seed starting mix...

Read more here: https://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/how-to-start-seeds-indoors.html

How to Prepare Garden Soil for Planting

The biggest mistake beginning gardeners make is using lousy or too-thin soil. Before planting anything in your yard, prepare your garden beds by digging to loosen the soil and adding organic material! This prep work can save you untold disappointment and, perhaps more than any other factor, assure a bountiful and delicious harvest.

If you're working with a brand-new garden (or one that fell fallow and you're bringing it back to life), you can stake it and get it ready the autumn before you plan to plant. This act gives the soil and the amendments you've added time to settle and meld. It also means you have less work to do next spring.

If a fall start isn't possible or practical, go ahead and prepare the ground in spring — but don't start too early. If the ground is still semi-frozen or soggy, digging in the soil can compact it and harm its structure. How do you tell whether it's ready to be worked in? Grab a handful and squeeze — it should fall apart, not form a mud ball...

Read more here: https://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/how-to-prepare-garden-soil-for-planting.html

Why soil preparation is so important and HOW to do it right in your farden.

IF YOU ARE LIKE ME, you started your journey to becoming a successful gardener by digging up a patch of the lawn in anticipation of being able to grow plenty of tasty vegetables for the family.

However, unless you are very lucky (I am not), your soil is probably not ready to plant seeds as it takes good healthy soil for just about anything to grow. I spent countless hours learning how to prepare soil for planting to ensure my plants had the best possible chance of success.

It takes several things in order for your new garden to produce a bountiful harvest. Of course, it needs to be in a place where everything can get plenty of sun and you need to be able to supply your growing plants with the perfect amount of water...

Read more here:
https://zacsgarden.com/how-to-start-a-garden/how-to-prepare-soil-for-planting-and-why-preparation-of-soil-is-important/ 

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