I had been writing this to talk about how to start several of the seed types, but with the weather lately it's also a good demonstration of why it gets done! Lovely day yesterday with sun, rain, snow and wind...
Anyway, on to the indoor planting stuff, which is somewhat more intensive and forethought-requiring, but is very much worth the effort. 

There are many plants that need a relatively long growing season to produce the parts we can eat. These are the ones that need to be started inside in this climate, much as I do love winter (we went tobogganing last Sunday, it was great fun!). All those nice big tomato and pepper plants you see in garden centres? Those were started indoors under lights months before they are sold.

The idea is that by starting seeds indoors before you can plant them outdoors, they get a longer growing season, and much more favourable conditions under which to start growing, so that the more difficult and/or sensitive part of their growth happens in a controlled environment. It is a learning experience, but not a fun one, to plant seeds outside and think it’s going great; then watch them all wilt and die when they get hit by frost. 

There’s all kinds of stuff you can do and things you can buy to start seeds indoors, but what you need is pretty simple. Shelving, on which to put the trays and those little “mini-pot thingies” (they have a real name but that’s more descriptive), soil or a mix, light, and if you really want, something to keep in the heat and moisture at the beginning. I currently use a small bookshelf with no back, and an old 3-tier stand my Mum had years ago. I plant the seeds in the pots, put the pots in the trays (so when I water them it doesn’t just go through holes and end up on the floor) and put the trays on the shelves. For a greenhouse effect at the beginning, I got a $2 plastic drop-sheet at Canadian Tire. The whole thing goes in front of a south-facing window, and gets watered as needed. 

And then I get plants! So far, of the seeds I planted this past week I have tomatoes and hibiscus sprouting, and marigolds and lemongrass that just started in the last 24 hours. And I just checked before I posted, as I wrote some of this earlier - and now there are tomatillos starting too!
(Photos should come later this week)