Seed Starting Made Easy

This seated workshop will be held outdoors under the shade of the old hay barn at Windmill Ranch in North Scottsdale. Windmill Ranch is a 12-acre, 4th generation homestead, and home to Honeybee Home flower farm.

During this workshop we will cover all the basics of how to start your own vegetable, herb, and flower seeds so that you can get the most out of your garden. Starting seeds indoors lets you get a jump on our short Arizona seasons and allows you to have continual succession of harvestable crops.

The workshop will be followed by a garden walk-through with flower farmer Katy, to pick a personal mason jar bouquet to take home.

Registration includes:

• Seeds
• Seed starting supplies
• Seed starting calendar for the Phoenix area
• Fresh mason jar bouquet

Topics covered:

• When and what to plant inside
• How to give indoor starts the right light, water, soil, and heat to thrive
• Pros & cons of different starting techniques – plastic trays, soil blocking, biodegradable pots, etc.
• Transitioning starts outside
• Troubleshooting common seed starting problems
• Hands-on experience with starting, potting up, and mixing soil

About the guest presenter:

Melissa Kruse-Peeples is a Sonoran Desert gardener, food enthusiast, educator, and life-long learner growing tasty food in Zone 9b (Phoenix, Arizona). She have been trained as a Master Gardener and worked as a Community Garden Coordinator and Seed Bank Manager. Melissa has written a book on Seed Saving and numerous articles and blogs for local and national garden organizations. Her passion is helping people learn about foraging, gardening, and seed saving.