For those of you know know me, know where this title came from…my husband, my children, my friend Vicki, and my sister Mel will absolutely laugh and vouch for how true it really is. I literally plan all year what to plant on the farm. I buy seeds! I trade seeds! I harvest seeds!! I get free seeds!! I just love seeing them in the boxes that I have.
So when I first started with a garden, I had always bought started plants. You go to the nursery, you pick from their selection and make your purchases. You do home, prep the beds and plant your plants. While, yes this is still a nice way to grow your own food, it is not the same as getting that magical package of tiny seeds. There is something about opening that package up…it is like Christmas morning for me.
You take this tiny seed out, prep your soil in little pots of various sizes, styles and shapes. You plant this seed in the soil and water it. Then like a little baby, you keep the seed warm (we use heat mats) and make sure it has the water, light and nutrients that it needs. Usually within a few days you see this little sprout start to poke its way through the soil. Your baby seedling is here!! Over the next few days you watch as this usually whitish little sprout pops all the way out, loses it’s seed shell coating and starts to flourish. The plant turns green….it stretches and reaches for the light. It begins to get its true leaves and with a lot of TLC, it grows.
Over the next few weeks you see what it is starting to become. This is my favorite to watch. This tiny pack of seeds that you put in some soil, is now becoming a multitude of healthy, well growing plants that you know will start to feed your family, friends and community within the next couple of months.
As the plant gets stronger, you have to start giving it what I like to call “tough love”…yes, I do love my plants too!! I take the plants out of the house (which is probably my oldest son’s favorite part of the planting season) and put them in the greenhouse. Here the plants still have the protection from the sun, wind, storms, etc but they are no longer on heat mats with just a tiny fan for wind. They no longer have the regulated light from the lamps. Their environment is losing control.
This is always a scary time. Some plants do very well and don’t seem to even notice the change. Others, start to wilt and look terrible (not going to lie, I have on more than one occasion, brought them back into the house for another week to make sure they are strong enough to survive this transition). Most of the plants make it and start to grow even better within the first week to two in the greenhouse as long as their watering needs are met (which has greatly increased now with the heat of the greenhouse).
A few weeks goes by and these plants start to look like what you would see at your local nursery. They give you a sense of pride…of accomplishment…of value. They make you feel good that your hard work will pay off and help support those around you that you care about most. It is a thing of beauty.
Then comes my scariest part with what started of as tiny seeds and have no grown into beautiful seedlings. Time to transition to the great outdoors to prep for planting. I learned this the hard way my first year with my seedlings and killed most of them. While these plants have become more resilient and have learned to tolerate heat and some wind from opening the doors and windows to the greenhouse, they are still very fragile. They have grown from infants but are now like the clumsy little babe that starts to toddle. They need you to watch them.
These plants now are prone to getting sun burnt and wind burnt. Some will bounce back if you catch it in time and some wont. You have to start slow. Give them only a few hours at a time outside and then bring them back to safety in the greenhouse. The next day, start again and give them a little longer. By the end of the week they are strong enough to stay outside and are ready to be planted, if they have survived this crazy journey so far. If they have beaten the odds of being planted in the right conditions, nurtured with water, light, heat and nutrients to allow them to grow and then withstood the wind, sun and in our case many times, our animals. Our sheep, goats, geese, chickens, turkeys, ducks, etc all love to “nibble” our plants to the roots…dang critters!!!
Through all of this, I still am hopeful for these little plants and love watching them grow. Now is when the fun begins. We take them to the garden, dig the holes, give a little bone meal and seaweed powder to give them a good start, plant them and hope for the best. Yes, we do water them. Yes, there is always way more weeding than we can keep up with to help them not get choked out. Yes there is pruning of certain plants…but now they have made it. Made it to where they are growing into something beautiful…something plentiful. I love watching the blossoms open…our honeybees pollinating them. I get super excited and start taking and sending pictures to my sister and friend. They get it and love seeing it as much as I do.
Within the next couple of weeks we get to the point where the first of the harvest is ready to be picked. This is one of my absolute favorite parts of summer!! I love bringing in a pepper or tomato or fresh basil or oregano or whatever plant we have and handing it to my husband. He creates these almost magical dishes with them. Sometimes it makes me feel like royalty. The food is amazingly on point, looks like it should come from a magazine and watching my husband cook with the fresh produce is mesmerizing. He always captures my heart while I watch him in one of his happiest places in the world…the kitchen!!
So, yes, when I see that tiny package of seeds on the shelf, my heart dances. It makes my dream about what is to some. It makes me smile. It literally makes me feel like that little kid in the candy store dreaming about all of the possibilities.