The Hard-To-Starts

I enjoy a good gardening challenge.  New bed from scratch?  No problem--well, sore back but whatever, it's all good.  Add a trellis for more climbers? Sure thing.

But perhaps my more favorite thing is to tackle the hard-to-start seeds.  Things like the Fraise des Boise strawberry seeds above, persnickety little seeds needing moisture and light to germinate.

Or these lavender seeds, also needing light to germinate.

Or these gourds, which are both very hard and very prone to not germinating. 

I've had great luck so far, which is wonderful.  Everything is growing so well, and is so happy, I think in part to the seed compost mix I make up using peat moss, worm castings, vermiculite and perilite.  They can't help but grow in all that goodness!