Source: quozio.com via Kathy on Pinterest

This is our first spring in the new home.

It’s thrilling to see the hundreds of tulips poking through the snow dust. The previous owner has some nice flower beds and a herb bed, but no vegetable garden.

I’ve had some great flower gardens in my day and a few good veggie and herb successes, but I don’t consider myself a great or very experienced gardener at all.

I have only attempted my own seedlings a few times and mostly I suck at it. Usually I don’t get my act together until too late, and for a variety of reasons my seedlings have met with calamity involving a pet, kid or unwitting husband.

This year I got hubby on board early and we both want to try and grow some organic veggies and herbs from our fabulously oversized and sunny deck.

(After our failed raised bed experiment in the old house—this very enthusiastic Green Diva meticulously watched the sun and found the only patch that had full sun, but the trees weren’t entirely full yet. Once we got the beds built, the expensive organic soil mixed w/ our compost filled in, the veggies and herbs tucked in, and the fence to protect it all was constructed, the leaves on that darned tree seemed to expand and there just wasn’t enough sun! We had some lettuce and a few good herbs, but ugh.)

I haven’t had much luck finding organic veggie or herb plants that weren’t going to cost a small fortune. It’s important to me to start with healthy essentials like organic, non-GMO seeds and organic soil.

It all starts with seeds. 

I wanted to find a source for organic and non-GMOseeds. I love the concept of a local seed exchange, but I’m out of the loop and needed to start fresh. I hope to be able to harvest some healthy organic seeds at the end of this season and participate in some seed exchanging for the next growing season.

My colleague Green Diva Mizar did a couple of her great DIY posts recently that included two different ideas for upcycling stuff headed for the recycling bin into seed-starter pots.

Here’s the best tutorial on making newspaper seed-starter pots that I found and used.

(NOTE: I’m not entirely thrilled with newspaper as The New York Times ink is probably not of the soy-based, non-toxic variety, but I really didn’t have enough toilet paper rolls and everyone convinced me that it would be okay… I succumbed to the easy, cheap access, but under protest.)

Bonus—Quotes.

Gardening is the art that uses flowers and plants as paint, and the soil and sky as canvas. ~ Elizabeth Murray

Gardening is how I relax. It’s another form of creating and playing with colors. ~ Oscar de la Renta

Gardening is a way of showing that you believe in tomorrow ~ Unknown

Gardening imparts an organic perspective on the passage of time. ~ William Cowper

Green Diva Meg (aka Megan McWilliams, host of The Green Divas Radio Show) is a TV/radio/interactive content producer, blogger, product/book/restaurant/film/anything reviewer, humorist, and recovering ex-publisher. Having fun. Keeping it green.

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Ed: Lynn Hasselberger