Seeds are the Strongest Magic

“Oh, heart, if one should say to you that the soul perishes like the body, answer that the flower withers, but the seed remains.”  Kahlil Gibran

I teach my children that there is magic in a seed. Inside a tiny seed is a whole plant, which will grow and be pretty and give us lots of food...and it will make hundreds of more seeds that we can plant again if we wish. A seed is Holy.

Back during the August Garden Tour, I shared a picture of my lettuces going to seed. About a month later, when I found the dry seed pods, I finally broke one open and was amazed at the bounty. I started sprinkling them back into my garden since this is the perfect time to plant a fall crop, and then realized that I need to save some for spring so I won't have to buy new ones! This is my first year really attempting to save seeds of all my favorite things, like the Matt's Wild Cherry and Super Sioux tomatoes, the Rosa Bianca eggplant, and my wonderful lettuces, of which I hope to enjoy fall/winter crops here.

Above, you can see the flowers. When they fade, and all looks dry and dead, don't be fooled. There are miracles inside the pods where the flowers bloomed! Below is a picture of one cluster of "flowers" I picked and brought inside, so you can get an idea of size/appearance.

Inside each dry pod are about 10-15 seeds. I'm pretty sure they're probably Bunte Forellenschluss, which is my favorite of all the lettuces I've planted. The Buntes have beautiful bright green leaves dotted with a reddish-purple, and a lovely mild (almost sweetish) flavor and a gently crisp texture.  I did plant other varieties nearby, so this year I will be getting the luck of the draw! I'll have to update again when they sprout leaves in the coming months. Magic. Miracle. Life.

For those of you who want to save tomato seeds for the first time, I have learned that you cannot "just" save the seeds; they need to ferment a bit before you dry them. It's not difficult and Mr. Brown Thumb has a terrific picture tutorial so I don't have to do one!

I also need to note that only with heirloom plants can you be certain the fruit that springs forth will be the same as the plant from which it was harvested. This doesn't mean you can't save seeds from hybrids, of course, just that you should expect to be surprised at what grows! I mostly grow heirlooms because my goal all along has been to save seeds, but each year I do get a few volunteer (natural) hybrids, including one year something that seemed to be a Purple Cherokee plum tomato that was terrific. 

"Keep on sowing your seed, for you never know which will grow — perhaps it all will." Albert Einstein

Rinse well

Spring Mix: peas and lettuces in a sink full of cool water.

Homegrown foods often get eaten right off the vine, but if they make it into the house, they are chucked straight into a sink full of clean water for swishing. I do the same with produce from the grocery store or Farmer's Market, but add a mild vinegar/citric acid solution -- no need to buy overpriced "veggie washes" to clean your produce!

Get more out of harvesting your cabbage

Garden Tour - May 1, 2012

My ultimate gardening goal is to always have something blooming and/or edible in the garden. Last year, I sacrificed annual color in my garden budget to invest in some perennials and this spring we are all enjoying the fruits of that decision! The gardens are full of color and life and lots of little shoots poking up into the world in search of the sun.

Bearded Iris

Jacob's Ladder

The Jacob's Ladder will flower later, but the new spring leaves are tinged with pink. Beautiful!

Asiatic Lily

Hyacinths poking their heads out.
The hyacinths are not blooming, but they have grown fast! I only planted them last month.

Bunte Forellenschluss Lettuce

Winter Density Lettuce and some Dill

Major Wheeler Honeysuckle

Chives

Amaryllis (Full House or Clown)

Bok Choy
I saw some bok choy starts and thought I'd try them, but it was unseasonably warm (80s in February), so they bolted almost immediately and I decided to just enjoy the flowers!

Hydrangea, with beautiful yellow Creeping Jenny behind.

Mexican Sage/Salvia Leucathna
Can you spot the happy bee? He was hard to catch.

Spiderwort
If you look closely, you'll see several unopened buds near each bloom. Here at Sunnybrook South they bloom for several months, from March-June.

Baby Begonia -- these have come up on their own the last two years!

Purple Queen -- also has perennialized in my beds

Moss Rose/Portulaca -- tiny seedlings sprouting

Geranium cuttings taking root. Two whole new plants here!

Grow ginger root yourself

Several years ago, I found out you can grow whole new green onions from the bit of root that would otherwise be compost. I stick them into pots on my back porch all winter long and then move them to the garden in the spring. Whilst googling a link to share since I don't seem to have a picture, I see that I could also stick the roots in water and leave them in my kitchen window. I will give this a try!

At any rate, there is little that gives me such pleasure as finding a beautiful use for something that I once discarded. I said as much to my Aunt Terri who told me I could do the same thing with ginger root. She said to just stick it in a pot and it would grow and the root would also grow and I could just cut some off if I was in need of ginger. Terrific!

1" of ginger root, freshly cut

So I tried this and it really does work! I put about two inches of ginger root into one of my pots and promptly forgot about it until I noticed some plant I didn't recognize growing in with my petunias. Lo and behold: Ginger! The root had grown about an inch over the summer, so I suppose it would take a while to get enough to count on this plant to be our sole supply of ginger, but it sure saved the day when the kids requested noodles with Peanut Butter Sauce and I had no ginger in the house.

The green part of the plant died back when I brought the pot in for the winter, but my aunt assures me it will spring back to life in the spring. Try growing your own next time you buy ginger root!

This Tennessee gal loves her Volunteers (plants that is...)

Go Big Orange! Scarlet Nantes - beautiful and delicious

Lettuces: Bunte Forellenschluss (my favorite), Winter Density and Grandpa Admire's.

I love peas in the pod.

Sunflower and the bean stalk, inspired by The Three Sisters.
Now how will I ever pick the beans?

Again, I have squash in the flowerbeds. (Did you know that was my inaugural post on this blog?) All of these are volunteer though; they just came up on their own. Beautiful, isn't it? That large broccoli plant is gone now, replaced with marigolds, moss roses and sweet alyssum (also volunteer). I'm amazed at what comes back each year and also at how perfectly one crop fades into the next. As the squashes sputter out in a few months, the moss roses and alyssum will explode into mounds of color that last into fall. I can pick up other flowers here and there on sale to fill in any bare spots. 

I say these are "squash," because that's what I planted in that area last year, but this one is looking much more melon-like to me. With volunteers, you are thankful for whatever you get because it's more than you expected. Not unlike my alma mater's football team, now that I think of it....

Sustainable Reading

When Bel at Green out Every Window invited me to participate in the Earth Day Reading Project, I loved the idea immediately. Share three books that have most inspired you to choose to live more sustainably. Fiction, nonfiction, graphic novel....it's all about what has made motivated you to turn ideas into actions. Full rules and a great list of gardening blogs can be found here at The Sage Butterfly.

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver inspired me to action almost immediately.  We had begun to garden and had a compost bin. We were buying less "processed crap" with all the coloring, additives and packaging, but weren't quite sure what else we really could do. After all, we live in the suburbs...it's not like we can feed ourselves from this tiny bit of earth, right? Within a year of reading this book, I realized the power that comes from reconnecting with our food sources. I love Kingsolver's fiction, but her sharing of her family's commitment to eat only locally for an entire year (no bananas!) changed how I think about food.

I picked up a copy of the Kitchen Garden Planner at a bookstore's going out of business sale. We lived down in Florida and had asked (and received) permission to plant a small garden plot in the back yard of our rental. I dreamed of what I might do with a home and yard and garden of my own. As it turns out, I plant squash in the flowerbeds. All of my planted space is a kitchen garden, each year more beautiful and each year more edible.

I know, I know. Insert joke about garden gnomes here. But the interior of this book is filled with amazing illustrations detailing the many ways sentient being  might live in harmony with nature, might balance needs of self with needs of the system of which we are all part. When I was a child, I discovered this book next to a rocking chair in my grandmother's guest room. She had placed it there purposely so a little girl weary of grownup conversation might find some magic with which to amuse herself. Whenever I harvest herbs, I think of the gnomes in this book. If I ever make my own dandelion root tea (not unlikely, these days), I will credit this book for the inspiration. 

So that's three. I considered including Bill McKibben's Eaarth, for its influence on my planning and thinking, but there is no action yet I can directly attribute to reading the book. Square Foot Gardening was also a strong contender for the Top Three, because he makes it easy to get started with gardening no matter where you live. I appreciate that he thinks growing things should be mostly fun.

Gifts for the Gardener: Seed Starter Set

Recycling is great! But reusing something is even better. So when I stumbled across a link for making your own seed starter pots at You Grow Girl, I decided to adapt it slightly and make some to use and some to give as gifts. This is an excellent project for children.

Now, seed starter kits are not expensive in general. I think I paid $6-8 for mine last year. The problem is that unless you are a commercial gardener, you don't need to start all of your seeds at the same time, but I was forced to use this bulky "greenhouse" kit for several months. These little homemade pots are sturdy and you can use as many/few as you need. They are fully biodegradable and can be planted directly into a pot or the garden.

Step One: Save your toilet paper rolls. I also save the plastic pots and trays for seedlings, so I have one below that we are going to fill up for Grandpa! You could also use/make a box or any container you like.

Simple materials: Scissors, TP rolls, some kind of container

Step Two: Cut each roll in half, then fold in half to crease. Then fold in half again so you make "corners" for the roll.  I flattened each roll twice on the table.

You want a squarish shape.

Step Three: Cut a groove halfway up your pot on each corner and in between each corner.

Ready for folding.

Step Four: Fold each flap down firmly, allowing them to overlap slightly. 

Press well to make a strong crease. This will allow them to sit flat when filled with soil.

Step Five: Flip the roll and push the folded flaps halfway up, allowing them to interlock.  DO NOT USE TAPE!! Tape is not biodegradable. The interlocking design provides all the support these little pots need.

Finished pots, ready to fill.

Step Six: Fill pots with soil. You can buy prepared soil or make your own.  I had a bag downstairs so that is what we used.

A cookie sheet helps contain spills.

Voila! A personal and useful gift for anyone who likes to grow things.