Why I don't start seeds indoors

The first year I had my own garden, I went all in.

I purchased seeds for peas, carrots, green beans, lettuce, broccoli, peppers, watermelon, zucchini and maybe more that I can't remember.

It was waaaay too much for me to start with.

I had visions of grandeur as I pictured my mom's huge flourishing garden, and reminisced about the seeds she would start indoors during the cold snowy winter.

I started seeds indoors that year. Broccoli, peppers, and watermelon. I had this cute little hutch I'd gotten at the local Meijer (along with my seeds that year) that lived on our dining room table (the best access we had to a window facing south).

Photo by Rachel Ross

I had the cutest little spindly green plants popping up. They grew and grew. Finally it was warm enough to transplant them outside.

Let's just say it was a total loss.

I had a couple broccoli plants survive, but they bolted before I could harvest the tiny crowns they produced. The pepper plants all died. The watermelon plants all died.

Oh and even though I didn't start the peas and lettuce indoors, those plants all got eaten by some little creature...

It was a rough first year.

Now that we are in a new house, I've decided to forego starting seeds indoors -- at least momentarily, perhaps forever. I don't have a decent place to put starter trays in a southern-facing window. And the time and money I devoted to it before just isn't worth it to me.

There are some vegetables that I will gladly buy from a farmers market. They include broccoli, peppers, and watermelon. Oh and sweet corn (that's a story for another day...)

Do you start seeds indoors?