Hi, this is Yolanda Vanveen, and in this segment we're going to talk about how to start vegetable seeds indoors. Now, vegetables are such a joy to grow in the garden, and they save you so much money from buying them at the grocery store. So, I'm sure we'll find in the future too, that growing vegetables isn't just a trend. It's something that we should all do to conserve. Because it conserves energy, and it produces great vegetables that are going to be of great nutrition to your family. But, they're easy to start indoors. And there's different varieties of vegetables, and I've found, the warmer climate vegetables like melons, and pumpkins, that need a longer growing season, by starting them indoors, you can get them to grow, and produce fruit much earlier in the season, outdoors. And there's a lot of easy ways that you can start vegetable seeds. So first of all, when you're starting vegetable seeds, make sure it's a good seed starter mix, or a great kind of mix that's high in porous materials, because just compost alone, will pack down, and sometimes it doesn't work as well as getting potting mix. So the trick is to get potting mix. Or add some kind of vermiculite, or something that's going to give it a little more air. And, little trays work really well. So you just fill the trays, about three quarters full, and then put your seeds right in there. If it's a small seed, just barely cover it. If it's a larger seed, cover it maybe a half an inch. And the trick is to keep them moist, but never sitting in water. So when you're watering, make sure, put cheese cloth, or even a nylon over the top of it, and a lot of times, then the water won't spray, and you can just water a little bit, and you won't lose it. Make sure, always put a tray, or a plate underneath so that you're not ruining any woodwork, or anything in your house. And there's many different seeds. You can have sweet corn. They're going to be larger seeds. And so if you start seeds like corn indoors, they're going to get big very quickly. So you don't want to start them too early in the season, where you can't plant them outside in time, because they will not grow inside to easily. Peas, are easy to grow. But they make a little vine, and so they have to have something to grow on to eventually, but you can still start them indoors. And plants like spinach, or more like lettuce, they're very easy to start too. You don't plant them very deep, they're just a small seed. So make sure you have a real sunny window, or a room that has some humidity, because a lot of times, the newer houses are so dry, that it's hard to keep the soil moist enough. So you can always put a plastic cover over the whole plant, or a glass, or anything else that's going to keep it moist. And when they start growing, and have quite a good root system, then you can turn around and plant them outside, or just grow them outside. In the end, you'll have lots of vegetables that you can use all summer long.
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