Thing is, this is New Jersey, where the weather can turn on a dime. If the package says start 8 weeks before transplant date, the I'd start. If the soil is a little slow to warm, there are ways to move it along, and it's always a good idea to have a frost cloth/floating row cover on hand anyway.

Intended to start seeds last weekend, but met with an unpleasant surprise when I entered my greenhouse: apparently the heater had quit and most of my plants were frostbitten and flopped over - jade plants and other succulents, clivias, night-blooming cereus, cyclamen and kalanchoe in mid-bloom, scented geranium, spider plants, freesia, rubber plant ... more. Soil wasn't frozen, so I cut back the damaged portions and will see what comes back from the roots. Fiddled with the heater, thermostat, connections, etc. and everything seems to be working OK now. A little skittish about starting seeds just yet, though, until I'm more confident it won't happen again.

March 8 - Finally got around to starting seeds: several varieties of tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, a couple of artichokes and some leeks. Winter sowed lettuces, kale and spinach. Next will be the cherry tomatoes and flower seeds I didn't get to today.

I have artichokes, spinach, onions, swiss chard, tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, potatoes , parsley, hibiscus, gaillardia, kohlrabi, leeks, and beets (all started over the last 3 weeks) most everything has sprouted. I just hope the weather warms up soon, so we can get started with sowing outdoors and transplanting some of these out.

I started several types of lettuce this weekend, next up cauliflower, tomatoes and building my new beds

I think it is early to start warm weather seeds, like peppers, tomato, eggplants, etc. But cold weather seeds should be fine. Peas, lettuce, leeks.... etc.

6-8 weeks before setting-out date, and I have a small greenhouse to hold them over comfortably if we have a late spring. Leeks, artichokes and some of the cool weather crops could/should have been started earlier, but it just wasn't to be. Peas will be direct sown on or about St. Patrick's Day ... if the snow has melted.

I started peppers and tomatoes. It has officially made me feel like spring is on the way.

I'm getting ready to start winter sowing. Later than most years, but as you know it's been a crazy winter. And March has been mostly 10 degrees below the average. It's only lately that I've been able to see the ground.

All varieties of tomatoes are up; nothing else has germinated yet ... hmmm. Wintersown lettuces have germinated - love to see the little green leaves even as snow is still covering patches of ground.