January Seed Catalogs: What to Order (And What to Skip)
January catalogs are dangerous if you don’t have a plan. Here’s how to figure out what to actually order before the glossy photos talk you into six kinds of squash you don’t need.
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Starting Peppers Indoors in January on the Cheap
Peppers need 10 to 14 weeks indoors before transplant, which means starting them now in January if you’re in the Pacific Northwest. Here’s how to get a solid cheap grow light setup going without spending more than you have to.
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Planning Your 2026 Vegetable Garden in December
December in Redmond is the best time to plan next year’s vegetable garden, before seed catalogs sell out and February sneaks up on you. Here’s how to map your beds, decide what to start from seed, and actually set yourself up for a better 2026 harvest.
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Starting Onions and Leeks Indoors for Almost Nothing
Bought onion starts last year and half of them melted before they hit the ground. This year I started my own from seed for less than the cost of that bundle, using a salad clamshell and a shop light. Here’s the whole cheap setup.
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Leek and Let Grow: Starting Onions and Leeks Indoors for Almost Nothing
Onions and leeks need 10 to 12 weeks of indoor growing time before transplant, which means December is exactly when you should start. Here’s a cheap setup that actually works, learned the hard way after killing a few batches.
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Seed Catalog Season: What to Order
Seed catalogs show up in December and I’ve been dog-earing pages ever since. Here’s how I actually plan what to order for a zone 8b backyard in Redmond without spending money on things that won’t work or won’t get eaten.
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Starting Peppers Indoors: Cheap Grow Light Setup
Peppers need 10 to 12 weeks of indoor growing before transplant, which means January in Redmond is the time to start. Here’s how to set up a cheap grow light system that actually works without a sad windowsill and without spending serious money.
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Planning Your 2026 Vegetable Garden
Every December I tell myself I’m going to plan the garden properly this year. This time I’m actually doing it. Here’s how I map out the 2026 vegetable garden for zone 8b Redmond, WA, including real timing numbers and a seed budget I will almost certainly blow.
