The other night I couldn't sleep, so I figured I could use the time to get my seedlings started. I had them in the dirt by about 5 a.m. on Thursday, January 28th. I planted:

I checked them this morning and nothing had popped up yet. Not a surprise since many of these have germination times that are over a week. I checked on them this afternoon, as I was preparing to plant some more greens, herbs, peas, and add in some beans. What do you know - seedlings! Just a little over an hour later I looked at them again and lots more have popped up - probably twice as many as I had seen earlier.

It is just amazing what can happen if you have the conditions just right. I use an organic seed starter for the dirt, which the seeds seem to just love. I gently moisten the dirt with some water before putting in the seeds and then mist the top of the dirt after I've covered the seeds. They stay on my dining room table where they get the warmth from the house. All of that combined seems to do the trick, as I almost always beat the germination times (and rates) by significant margins.