Calling Zone 7a

How do I found out when the last frost is for my zone? My local nursery wasn't much help in getting this information, so I turn to my DG pro gardeners.

I also have the following seeds and I want to start them inside. When do I start each? (again my nursery wasn't much help....maybe they thought I was their competition)

Salad Greens (package says I can start anytime indoors)
Summerlong Basil
Tall Utah Celery
Crimson Sweet Watermelon
Silver Queen Corn
Short n Sweet Carrot
Georgia Collards
Buttercrunch lettuce
German Chamomile
Garden Sweet Pea
Chives
Sweet Baby Girl Tomato (it says to start 6-8 weeks before outdoor planting time...should I start these now?)
Spearmint
Oregano
Tomatillo
Spinach

Check with your Extension Service. They have all of the dates you need. Every county in the US has one, and they are a valuable resource.

A rough guideline for your area...(it's similar to mine) is

Peas as soon as the ground can be worked...that translates to 'Valentine's Day' for the old farmers. And they mean it..

Cool season crops such as lettuce and greens can be direct seeded outside middle of March..onion sets can go in too. You collards will be fine..radishes too.

My last freeze is listed as April 1, last frost is listed as April 15...every now and then it will be a little earlier or later. I tend to not direct seed my garden and set out transplants till about the 20th-25th of April, unless it's a very warm Spring. If the ground is still cold, the plants won't die, but they'll just sit there till it warms up.

I'll start a few tomatoes this weekend, but my main group will be in a couple of weeks. The early ones gives me something to fuss over and if the weather remains cold, I won't have overgrown tomato plants to set out when it's time. Tomatoes do best if they are about 8" tall at transplant. They'll catch right up to their overgrown brothers and sisters. You don't need blooms on them when you transplant either...if that happens...pinch them off. Your tomatoes need to make roots as opposed to grow fruit for the first week or two.Tomatillo's culture are same as tomatoe culture.

If you have grow lights or a couple of shop lights, you can start your herbs anytime...if they get leggy, pinch them back.

I would advise direct seeding your corn and watermelons...you have a long enough growing season that it's not necessary to start them inside and they'll thank you for it. Corn is best when planted in a block rather than in long rows if you aren't planting much...if you are only planting a small amount, it needs to be where it can pollinate each other...the Native Americans planted their corn in a spiral...this assured them of proper pollination...even though they didn't understand why.

I'm not planting much corn so I will do that. So by spiral you mean a small circle and start from the outside and work in?

My laundry room gets very sunny during the day. Is this enough for my plants along with the fluorescent light in the ceiling or do I still need to buy a shop light?

Oh...and what is an Extension service and how do I find out the contact info for mine?

You really should buy a shoplight, & it should be situated so that it's only an inch or so over your seedlings. Otherwise they're going to get long & leggy at best.

As far as when to start, seeding too early is harder to deal with than seeding too late. I'll be starting my tomatoes/peppers/eggplants in the next couple of weeks, as I don't normally plant them out until the 1st weekend in May. Lettuce, Spinach, Endive, Asian Greens, Swiss Chard, some herbs etc., I'll start in mid-March & plan on setting them out mid-April with lightweight row covers depending on the weather. Beets, turnips, carrots, & other root vegetables will hopefully be sown in raised beds around the same time - mid-April.

I have a small cold-frame, so that's also a big help in hardening plants off when the weather is still iffy.

Does shop light = halogen light?

No - "shop light" is just one of those simple 4'-5'-long double fluorescent tube lights.

Breezy is right. Use a shop light one inch above the seedlings.

this site has a general guide to last frost dates.
http://www.thegardenhelper.com/hardiness.htm
Also the Farmer's Almanac is often pretty darn close.

Your Extension office is supported by your state's College of Agriculture. Ours is the University of Kentucky.

You can look under the services for your county in the phone book, it will be there with other services. Either Agricultural Extension or Extension Office...I can even look in my local phone book for University of Kentucky Extension Office and find the number.

They are a valuable resource for anything that grows and have all sorts of reading materials that you can get about growing things.

Melody:

Google is a beautiful thing. After I replied to your post I just typed in extension office and immediately the University of Maryland came up. I found a lot of great information, including a program in my county through which you can become a master gardener! I think I might give that a go.

As far as the shop light, well, with all of the plants I'm trying to grow, I'll have to rotate them since the fluorescent light in my ceiling is obviously up to high. The only shop lights I've seen do not have their own stand. So I guess I have to jerry-rig something.

Desert: Thanks for the information!!!!!

We all jerry-rig stuff...it's just part of starting seeds. I set my first one on top of soup cans!

Now I have a wonderful 5 shelf rack in my utility room where I can hang my lights from chains and move them as my plants grow.

Back to your corn question...yes, the spiral is just what you describe. for a small amount, it's the most efficient way of growing corn. You do know that you'll get one full sized ear and 'maybe' one smaller ear per stalk...and they'll all mature at the same time.

Hey - I'm STILL doing the can thing to hold up my lights - lol!!

While I do have a big seed-starting table with shop lights on chains that I can raise &/or lower, it's still buried in the basement from our last move. Maybe next year!

Average last frost date 7B North Alabama is April 10, add on a week to be safe and check long range weather which should give you 2 weeks.

i just bought a garden light!!!! Yippee!!!