I know it's early, only mid February, but it's time to get started thinking about and planting your seedlings for this years garden. Some seeds take longer to germinate or are slower growing than others. You want to keep all your seedlings about the same size (as much as possible) on one tray, so i can keep them all 2" under the lights at all times. This is how close you want your seedlings to be. So, I start some seeds before other seeds to keep their growth rate even. In 2014 i didn't soak my parsley seeds. If you don't don't some seeds before planting they can take 3x longer to germinate. Parsley will take 3 weeks without soaking, but about 7 days if you soak the seeds overnight before planting. Celery, onions, leeks also benefit from soaking overnight before planting.

Even if you've planted seedlings for years, it's always good to keep a seedling log, I learn new things and write them down every year. It helps me do things better each year, and new stuff always comes up. Logs will help you track things, and you can refer to them the next year to refine how you're growing your seedlings. On every seed pack, or in seed catalogs, they will tell you how long a seed takes to germinate. It's always a range, i.e. 7 - 14 days. The reason for that range is depending on how warm the area is, how you planted the seedlings, the light source you're using, all of that will impact how fast or slow a seed takes to germinate. When you keep a seedling log, you are finding out how long the seeds take to germinate in your growing conditions. You can also track how fast different seeds grow, so that you can plan on when to start each different variety of seed, and give them all the best growing conditions they need.

Always pay attention to the information on seed packs and/or seed catalogs. They will give you great information on when to start your seedlings, how long they take to germinate and when to plant them outdoors. Knowing your final frost date is important. Here in New Haven CT our final frost date is May 15th. So, if a seed pack tells me to start my seeds indoors, 6 weeks before the final frost, that means i'll plant the seeds around April 1st. This information is important; while i start parsley very early, hot peppers, celery, eggplants a bit further on.. i won't start my regular tomatoes till early April. Tomato plants grow really fast and if you start them too soon they'll be leggy and the plants will be weak (though it's easy to deal with leggy tomato seedlings, more on that later).

For now, start planning your seedling plantings, keep a log.. and i'll post some more info on lights and good growing conditions soon. 

Getting to be the middle of January and time to get those seed orders in! Better to order sooner than later to avoid missing out on anything you'd like to grow because the catalog you order from has sold out. If you're not bothered by having to substitute a different variety than the one you've chosen, then you have time. I order for clients as well as myself and I don't want to have to scramble trying to find winterbor kale cause the place i usually get my seeds from has sold out of it. That has happened to me a few times. Of course, there are times when that will happen anyway, but you stand a better chance of getting everything you want if you order earlier, rather than later.

I use the 3 catalogs in the top of this photo more often than any others. I get most of my seeds from Fedco, which gives you a lot of seed for the money. However, they don't carry everything I want or need. Johhny's is more expensive but they do have some good deals on onion plants, sweet potato slips among others. The catalog is also full of great information on planting, fertilizing, etc on each variety of plant. They also have great photos which are good to look at and compare when you're deciding what to buy for this coming season. Fedco is sans photos, but if you know what you want, or use another catalog to look at photos, you can then order from them and get a better deal.

I live in CT, so I try to order from places in the same area as I live. The seed and/or plants the catalogs I use sell were grown in this area (Maine to be exact), so I know they'll do well in my area. You should try to order from catalogs in the area you live, you'll get better results that way. Though, getting a catalog (such as Johnny's) which has great info and photos, can still be a good resource tool.