I started tomato, pepper, basil and other hot weather seeds yesterday afternoon. [View all]

Here in California, we need to have plants ready for setting out pretty early in the season.

When do you start your seedlings for tomatoes, peppers, basil and other warm weather vegetables?

I plan to keep the seedlings inside for many weeks.

This afternoon, in order to deter what I think is a raccoon, I put out newspaper soaked in ammonia and cayenne pepper powder. Does anyone else know of a way to keep out raccoons?

I think the raccoons come looking for the worms in my soil. They don't seem very interested in my plants. They just like to scoop out dirt. If plants happen to be growing in the dirt, they uproot the plants and leave them lying there. I just stick those that survive back in the ground. But it is still frustrating.

Anyone have any advice about -- the time to start seeds for summer or how to keep out raccoons?