The best way to give your seedlings a good start is to plant the seeds into a cell tray with a high quality compost. Don't be tempted to plant directly into the beds because everything will be decimated immediately by slugs and you'll be so disheartened it could put you off gardening for life! Also make sure you buy a top quality potting compost. In my experience cheap brands tend to result in spindly week seedlings ... you get what you pay for in that department. If the trays aren't new then before you start planting give them the once over to check for lurking slugs, there'll be a few.
In the above photo are thin plastic trays that normally don't survive more than one season, so it's worth investing in the more sturdy type of tray. I buy a couple from the organic centre each year to build up my stockpile. My oldest of these trays is five years old now and still in perfect working order.
Don't put your trays directly on the soil because the slugs with easily find them there. Up on a table is best but if you run out of space like me put a couple of planks down, raised on bricks and off you go.
