Sunday, April 12, 2009

Gardening

Farmmom loves her garden, and we all love the products of it.

What we don't love is the expense of starting it. Buying started plants is expensive, but when your garden is out in the boonies where you can't exactly shelter it, a good started plant has a better chance than a seedling. And when you can get ten times more space out in the boonies than in the back yard... it's not a difficult decision.

So, this year, I'll be starting a lot of our plants from seeds, on the porch in the day and in the garage at night and in bad weather. This also means that we can do a lot more variety than we could otherwise, because the variety of started plants can suck.

So, tomorrow I'll get my seedling trays and a bunch of seeds, and some good planting soil. When the weather folks say we're gonna get about a week's worth of good temperatures (it's 38 degrees outside right now, and the lovely rain we've been getting is turning to snow, which makes me sad) I'll get everything planted and germinating.

This year, in addition to all of our other edibles, I'm going to buy some herb seeds, and raise some of our favorite herbs and spices. I'm thinking about going out on a limb and trying to grow some garlic in a pot, too. If I can grow it in a pot on the porch, then we can probably grow it in the garden, and we can enjoy fresh garlic.

I don't mind starting the seedlings. In fact, it's my favorite part of growing things. Planting something, and seeing it come up. Don't get me wrong the veggies are great, but the time between the plant sprouting and growing strong, and harvest, is just... necessary.

Seeing that seedling pop up through the soil though, that feels like accomplishment.

3 comments:

Old NFO said...

And it's real... And you learn (again) every year the importance of caring for and nurturing the young sprouts. It's a GOOD teaching aid for youngsters too!

Anonymous said...

FWIW, garlic is EASY

On a Wing and a Whim said...

I just put seeds into peat disks, hoped for the best... and realized that I'm going to be gone when they're in the sprouting window. Well, more for the housesitter to do, or I'll start again!

Good luck, and I hope they're all awesome. Just make sure to plant the garden in a clear line of fire from the kitchen window to harvest your meat with your vegetables!