Erin- Week 2

“Though I do not believe that a plant will spring up where no seed has been, I have great faith in a seed. Convince me that you have a seed there, and I am prepared to expect wonders.”

- Henry David Thoreau

It has always amazed me that one seed is able to produce an entire plant, and I’m hoping (with some luck) that I will be able to generate similar results.

Since this is the fi rst time I have ever tried to grow anything, I decided to keep things simple. I chose to start my gardening adventure with chives, basil, and parsley. My logic was a) they supposedly grow well indoors and b) I think these would b e well used. Thyme and rosemary were briefly considered, but quickly vetoed because how often does a recipe call for thyme or rosemary?

In terms of vegetables, I chose radishes because they have a short turnaround time, all my online sources say they grow well indoors, and I have a personal fondness for radishes. As a small child my grandmother would feed me radishes whenever I stayed at her house. It is only now that I realize that it probably was a bit unusual for a 5-year old to request radishes. As a side note, radishes are supposedly great for growing in a classroom environment-for any K-12 teachers out there- because they do show results so quickly.*

Next, I had to choose an appropriate medium for my seeds. I decided to start my plants in the pot from the beginning, so as not to transfer them. There are a lot of proponents of growing herbs in starter pots and transferring them once they have sprouted, but I decided to cut out the middleman because I was concerned about being able to transfer the herbs without damaging them. If I’m being perfectly honest, there was also a bit of laziness involved in that decision. Time will tell if this was a wise decision. I opted for a potting soil with sphagnum peat, compost, perlite, and plant food because it had some plant food, was lightweight and porous.**
Once I had all the necessary items, all that was left to do was plant the seeds.

I read somewhere that I should water and drain the soil before planting, so I gave that a try and then followed the directions on the seed packets for the spacing and depth at which each of my herbs/vegetables should be planted.*** My research kept leading me to information on the need for plants to have appropriate room to grow, so I was pretty cautious about spacing the seeds out. Again, time will tell if this has a positive effect on my plants or if I was being paranoid. I also put plastic wrap over my pots while they were seeds to help retain moisture.