Starting From Seed

Welcome. As a gardener we all know it starts from seed. That little thing sometimes no larger that a speck of dust. Provide it with water, warmth, light and nourishment and watch it transform into beauty, food, shelter; almost limitless opportunity. Every year I am amazed at what comes from seed. I am even more amazed at what starting from seed teaches me. The fact that there is a beginning, a middle and an end. A lifetime in a year. The parallels and metaphors are fantastic. Lets focus on the beginning. We put that seed in the dirt and wait...and just when it seems we can't wait any longer...life sprouts. There it is. A tiny little plant. Its amazing how simialar planst are when they sprout. Two little leafs on top of a skinny stem. The next thing you know they are recognizable as the plant they will become. Look at a picture of yourself as a child. You can see what you will become, or at least look like. Too bad when your young you cant imagine it.

Enough of my ramblings, this is a gardening blog. Since the title of this post is 'Starting From Seed' I will actually talk about starting plants from seed. Not everything in one post, but at least a start. I have been starting seeds for over 20 years so I have some experience in the area. I always think about the many things obsess about when it comes to my plants, but one thing they have taught me over the years is that the seeds can take care of themselves, sort of. When you think about it, the seeds and plants have been taking care of themselves for milinea. Thats a lot more than 20. So Lets look at just one thing when it comes to starting seeds. Why start seeds?

You can go just about anywhere these days and buy perfectly good plants, take them home and plant them. They are fine and will work wonderfully. But...when you do that you mss out on the beginning of the cycle. As I said before, the beginning, middle and end. The appreciation of starting at the beginning. When Dorothy started her trip through Oz she started at the beginning of the yellow brick road. I suppose it would have been faster to jump ahead, but then she probably wouldn't have met the scarecrow, and what fun would that be? So I say start your own plants from seed. Learn to appreciate the beginning of the process, learn what they need to get started so you can understand what they need as they progress to the middle. I'll share specifics on starting tomatoes and peppers in my next post.