Having a garden is beneficial to me in more than one way. My garden provides tasty foods which I choose based on the preferences of my own palate. It gives me something to do when I would otherwise be bored. It is a stress reliever.

For this instructable, I used the following:
a. a patch of ground for the vegetable garden area
b. a patch of ground for the flower bed
c. a garden claw suitable for the size of my hand
d. potting soil
e. styrofoam cups of 6 ounce capacity
f. small pail of 1.5 gallon capacity
g. various seeds (make your selections based on what you want to harvest)
h. water
i. me

Step 1: Let's See What We Might Already Have

I'm going to have a look around. I want to determine what has continued from before, so I will know what I don't have to do this time.

Step 2: Having a Look at the Soil.

I need to find out if compaction is significant enough that I should use a machine to till. From the photograph, it looks like I can do this manually and avoid the heavier equipment.

Step 3: Leading Up to the Baby Plants

I want some little plants that are somewhat established. I'll put them outdoors when the weather is predictable enough for their safety to be ensured.

Step 4: Making Babies

This is quite simple and doesn't take a lot of preparation time. A few days afterward, I expect to see green stuff peeking up at me from inside the cups.

Melon seeds are more visible, so I'll use those for this example.

The images do not show drainage holes at the bottom of the cups. I made 6 holes, evenly spread. Each hole is 3mm in diameter. They allow excess water to exit the cup. Too much water can spoil the process.

After the seeds are in the cup and then covered with soil, watering is required if you want any results. I eyeballed an amount that seemed subjectively appropriate. I would estimate that 2 ounces (60ml) of water was used in each cup. I believe the soil should appear soggy but not soaked.

Step 5: There's More to It

The weather here is not optimal for separating and moving the seedlings outdoors, so I am not able to demonstrate yet. I do intend to do so, in the not too distant future.