Direct sew advice?

[simpsongal]

I'm going to direct sew a good amount of vegetables and some flowers.  I bought seeds yesterday - off the top of my head, I got:

Zinnias, bachelor buttons, sunflowers.

Pumpkins, gourds, acorn squash, peas, green beans, brussel sprouts

Any advice?  I just turned over the soil, but I should probably til in some compost and peat moss to aerate the soil a bit.  We had good luck with direct sewing some of the above last year (til the deer got 'em).  I'm trying a few more things this year.

I should wait to fertilize until the sprouts emerge right?  Would it be helpful to use a little bone meal to encourage root development?

[NitaX]

Peas and beans are sooooo easy! I'm waiting for my green beans to sprout any day now. Don't over saturate the soil before they come up. Then once sprout, make sure they don't dry out.

[simpsongal]

Good advice, nitaw. I had trouble keeping them hydrated in the DC summer last year. We're starting a little earlier this year, so hopefully they'll be well established by july.

[2curlydogs]

Plant 'em. Water 'em.

I never fertilized during germination or seedling stage. Doesn't that make for leggy, weak-stemmed plants?