The seeds have germinated and seedlings are starting to grow! 
We used Jiffy’s peat pellets as the grow medium to start the seeds. They were chosen because they are easy to use, self-contained, and are designed specifically for the germination and early growth stage of most plants. Other contributing factors include the time of year – August is not typically the time vegetable seeds are started in the northern hemisphere. We only needed a small run of seedlings for this project. Only four plants per type will be transplanted into each hoop house. And, the hoop houses were not ready for direct sowing.
There were other options we considered for this phase of the project including soil blocking, planting into six-packs (common way seedlings are purchased at garden centers), and sowing into small pots. All of these would allow us to transplant the seedlings into the hoop house.
We use cafeteria trays to hold the seedlings. Pictured on the left. It makes transporting them easier and they last longer with less handling. The trays are waterproof, durable, and allow for “ground-up” watering of the peat pellets, which dissolve when watered from above. Groud-up watering is when the water is poured directly on the tray, not the soil, and then allowed to be absorbed by the medium, in this case, the peat pellets. This method also works for traditional soil blocks, six-pack containers, and even traditional pots.