After more than 30 years of gardening and farming in Hercules and El Sobrante, we've compiled the dates for planting seeds that lead to success.  We don't start our seeds in a greenhouse, but we start them in short flats with our own compost planting mix. We grow the flats of seeds directly on the ground in the sun and under bird netting.  Once the seedlings are big enough we either prick them out into bigger flats or pots or transplant them into prepared soil at the farm.  Save yourself years of trial and error by referring to the seed starting calendar that works in the cool East Bay Area of California.