Earthly Garden

There are many seed varieties that can grow in the most inhumane soil conditions and even other conditions out of your control.

The main thing a seed needs to grow healthy and able to be transplanted into good soil is sun light, water and good or at least proper soil condition. But, there are some things that happen to seedlings that are out of our hands as stated above. Here are a few issues and how to prevent them or correct them.

• Discolored Leaves: this could be because of low amount of nutrients and fertilizing weekly could help cure this issue right up. But, if you over fertilize you could lead to the following…

• Curled Leaves: This is caused by too much fertilizer. Seedlings don’t need a lot of fertilizer and some don’t need any at all until they have sprouted and have a good foundation of roots under them.

• Damping Off: The plant will suddenly wilt and the die. There could be a fungus in the plant present or in the soil. Always use fresh soil for each planting. When a plant dies, throw out the soil it died in or whatever killed the last may kill the next.

• Plants too long: This is also called leggy plants and it is caused by to too little of light or overly damp or dry conditions, like very humid. IT could be from overcrowding as well. The best way to stop this from continuing is to separate the plants into individual pots and move them to a location that gets more light and isn’t too warm either.

There are many seeds you can start right now in your own home or in your greenhouse. Some seeds are easier than other to get started this way instead of planting them right in the soil in your garden. Some seeds are too small to start right in the ground as well and can easily be started indoors too. Here is a list of seeds you can start indoors and easily transplant in the ground this growing season.

• For Annuals:

1. Begonias
2. Black-eyed Susan
3. Geranium
4. Impatiens
5. Marigolds
6. Petunia
7. Salvia
Most annuals are better if you purchase then already sprouted and packed in groups. It may be a bit more expensive, but it will save you some time and it will better your planting of them right in the ground as well.

• For Perennials:

1. Aster
2. Bears-tongue
3. Bellflower
4. Blanket Flower
5. Columbine
6. Coreopsis
7. Delphinium
8. Hollyhocks
9. Oriental Poppy
10. Purple Coneflower (Echineachia)
11. Shasta Daisy
12. Baby’s Breath
Bulbs are the best to buy when it comes to planting perennials right in the ground. Bulbs come in different varieties from elephant ears to dahlias and then even Lilies as well.

• For Vegetables:

1. Broccoli
2. Cabbage
3. Cauliflower
4. Celery
5. Eggplant
6. Melon
7. Peppers
8. Squash (any variety)
9. Tomato
Some vegetables plants work best when you purchase them already sprouted and packaged. Tomatoes I have found work best from seeds even though you can purchase them already sprouted as well.

• For Herbs:

1. Basil
2. Chamomile
3. Coriander
4. Dill
5. Fennel
6. Feverfew
7. Hyssop
8. Sage
9. Marjoram

Lavender and other herbs that grow outdoors year around work great in already sprouted form. Experimenting to see what works best for your planting needs is the best way to see if seeds or other forms work best for you.

You can use egg shells instead of the pre-made pots, such as Jiffy Pots to help start your seedlings along. We like to use the whole egg. The egg shell for our seedling starts and the inside of the egg for a recipe.

Crack the eggs and save the yolks for a later recipe or……

Hard boil them, and then save the shell after you crack the hard-boiled eggs out.

After removing the yolk in the way you choose, the next step is to wash the shells and get them ready to place back inside the egg case.

As you are placing the shells inside, make sure that you place them as up-right as possible. If you get them crooked, your seedlings will sprout up from the dirt you place inside the shell crooked as well.

They should look something similar to this below as you are going along.

And they will look like this when you are finished placing them all inside.

Now they are ready for the dirt and the seedlings. Once you add the seeds and they start to sprout within a few weeks and are ready to be added to the soil in your garden, smash the shell around the dirt before adding it to the soil so the roots can take hold without having to break through the shell. Don’t smash or squeeze to hard though, just enough to break the shell. If you smash it up to hard you could damage the delicate roots of the seedlings, resulting in a plant that will die or won’t produce as well as it should.

TRY THIS RECIPE WITH YOUR LEFT OVER EGGS YOLK:

Easy Eggs
To help avoid the gray ring around the yolk, which is the sign of an overcooked egg, try this:

1. Place the eggs in a single layer in a saucepan and cover them with about 1-inch of cold water.

2. Bring the water to a boil, cover tightly, and remove from the heat; let stand for about 20 minutes.

3. Transfer eggs to a bowl of ice water and let stand until completely cooled.

To find more egg-appealing recipes visit Earthly Eating.

Starting seedlings indoors take a lot of care and you must have everything right in order for them to sprout. The right potting mix, the right pots, the right light, and also the right temperature. If any of these things is off you may get stunted sprouting or even none at all. Here are few things to keep in mind when you want to start you herb seeds or any other garden seeds indoors.

1. Always read the back of the package the seeds come in. It can tell you exactly what you need to know. Whether to start the seeds indoors or whether you can plant them right into the dirt in your garden or flowerbed.

2. Never use all-purpose potting soil. I actually learned this the hard way and lost a very delicate, sentimental tree my husband gave to me on our first anniversary. This type of potting soil gets too hard for delicate plants and seed starts especially. It is a great mix to use with other types of potting mix or in your compost to help with breakdown.

3. One of the biggest mistakes many people make when starting seeds, it over watering. One watering a day in the morning is a great way to start and as the seedlings sprout and begin to grow taller, more watering can be given. Be sure to do some research and find out just how much water that particular plant needs. You don’t want to have a rotting root system on your little sprout.

4. To learn more about what plants are the best to start indoors and how to keep them strong and healthy before they are planting in the ground visit Ed Hume Seeds.

Even though the growing season is almost over, it’s never too late to start thinking about next years growing season. Here are two common seedling issues that may help save you money and time next year.

1. Hard-coated seeds: Some seeds that you buy have a hard coating which helps keep the main seed safe inside. A great example of this is the peach seed. If you break open the main, ugly outer coating you can see the delicate seed within.

Solution: You can soak these seeds before planting them in the soil or scarify. With presoaking you can fill a jay halfway with warm water and simply place the seed in the water. You need to soak the seed for about 12 to 14 hours before you plant it in the soil. But don’t let the seed dry out, it could die.

With Scarification: Using a knife or a file, nick the hard coating, but don’t go too deep. This will allow water to penetrate the hard coating. For smaller seeds, try sandpaper.

Works best with seeds for beets, carrots, banana, cannas, morning glory, and sweet peas.

2. Seeds are slow to germinate: If you are like me you start most of your seeds indoors then transplant them in the soil. But, it seems to take forever with some seeds to even show any sign of sprouting and it can be time consuming and frustrating.

Solution: Helping the presprout is a great solution. To help the seed presprout all you do is dampen a paper towel and place the seeds inside, then roll and place the towel in a plastic bag. Place the bag in a warm location out of the direct light. Be sure and check on them daily to see signs of sprouting. If there is any white showing on dark colored seeds or the seed has split, plant them in soil right away.

Works best with seeds for beets, carrots, cucumbers, squash, foxglove, and climbing annuals.

Welcome to Part 3 of our series on seed starting! When your seeds sprout, they’ll have one set of leaves. These leaves won’t look anything like the leaves on a full grown plant. They are there to provide nourishment to the new seedling, much like the yolk of an egg provides nourishment to the embryo it holds. Once the seedling begins developing mature leaves, these “baby” leaves will shrivel away. When your seedlings have at least one set of mature leaves, it’s time to transplant. You can buy small pots for this, or use paper or plastic drinking cups. I like to use styrofoam coffee cups. They are lightweight, provide plenty of space for the seeding’s root system to grow, and fit nicely on windowsills and ledges. Use a good quality potting soil and don’t forget to poke a few holes into the bottom for drainage. A pencil does this nicely. Give your transplants lots of light and air circulation and make sure they don’t dry out. Once they’ve got their second set of leaves, it’s time for the final stage of seed starting-hardening off and planting outdoors! We’ll cover that tomorrow and then start a series on specific vegetables and their needs.

gardens, gardening, seed starting, seedlings, transplanting seedlings

Yesterday we talked about getting seeds started. Today let’s talk about what to do once your seeds have germinated!

As soon as you see they’ve sprouted, remove any cover. Air circulation is critical for young seedlings. Without it they are very vulnerable to
a disease called “damping off”. It’s a fungal issue that causes the base of the seedling to rot, causing it to fall over. This can be prevented by good air circulation and careful watering. One of the biggest causes of seedling failure is overwatering!

You’ll also want to move your seedlings to a sunny window. Seedings need lots of light or they will get leggy. The term refers to the appearance of light starved seedlings-their stems grow much too long in an attempt to reach more light. With some plants, such as tomatoes, you can simply plant them horizontally when it’s time to transplant them outside-roots will form along the stem. But for most plants, leggy seedings won’t thrive.

Another thing seedlings need is strength. To promote strong, sturdy stems (crucial for any plant destined to be laden with fruits, like vegetable plants)
set a fan on low and allow it to blow across the seedlings. Be sure to do this in a warm place and only on low. You’re looking for a gentle breeze, not a stiff wind.

Once your seedlings have at least one set of adult leaves, it’s time to transplant to individual pots. More on that tomorrow!

gardening, gardens, seed starting, gardening planning, seedlings, transplanting seedings

Mornin’ earthly gardeners! I thought I’d share a photo of my little Mexican lime tree with you. A friend says it’s the same as the “key lime.” Last year it bloomed off and on all spring and summer, and actually made a handful of fruit. What fun! It sits on a semi-shaded porch, and was doing great until we got a lot of ice last winter. I thought it was dead, but it’s not–it’s coming back! I’m always amazed at the rejuvenation power of plants.

It’s been raining profusely here off and on for the past week or so, and the garden is waterlogged. I’m really anxious to get these seedlings out of the office and into the ground. They aren’t quite ready, but I figure IF the sun comes out, they’ll catch up eventually. That’s the hope, anyway.

I hope some of you others are closer to spring. I haven’t heard the weather reports from other parts of the country in a few days, but I expect some of you are still chillin’. Now is the time to pore over those garden seed catalogs (if you still do the paper thang) or sit and browse through all the online garden seed suppliers.

If you haven’t started seedlings yet, there’s still time. My new idea is to set out a few at a time, spaced a few days apart. I don’t really have room for all these seedlings, so some will have to go into containers. Speaking of containers, the tomatoes in the EarthBox are doing fabulously, as are the two remaining tomato plants out in the raised beds.

Next week, I’ll talk about using raised beds in your garden, and tell you how you can build an easy, fast, almost instant garden anywhere! Really! So until then, do a Google for “small raised bed gardens” and get some ideas. And have a good weekend…

Until then, dig it!

bobbi c.
Copyright ©2007 Bobbi A. Chukran. All rights to photos and text reserved.

raised bed gardening, rain, tomatoes, small space gardens, easy gardens

I was horrified when I read a news item yesterday that links the use of chemicals in our environment to obesity. It seems that scientists have found a link between certain chemicals and obesity. If so, then we’re all doomed. I shouldn’t be surprised, though. I’ve felt for quite some time that chemicals, pesticides and such in our environment was bad news, and cause many of the diseases and health problems that we all face these days. I myself have lingering health problems as a result of a chemical exposure in my home years ago–a supposedly “natural” product that was anything but natural.

This news story has links to the Washington Tribune and the Columbia Tribune, where the story was first reported. And it’s not just the chemicals in food that are problematic; chemicals in other things, such as plastics, are also blamed for numerous maladies.

I know how hard it is to avoid plastics, but we can avoid chemicals in our foods. Grow organic, use organic seeds if at all possible (I’ll be talking about that in a future blog post), buy and eat organic produce, and suggest to your favorite restaurants that they also buy and use organic foods. Every little bit helps!

dig it!

bobbi c.
Copyright ©2007 by Bobbi A. Chukran

organic foods, obesity caused by chemicals, organic seeds, organic produce, chemicals in plastics

Hi all,

We’ve had a really cold winter here, and I keep hearing from friends in other parts of the country that it’s super cold there, too. Since we can plant fairly early here in Texas, I sometimes forget that there are some who can’t get out into the garden until what we consider late spring/early summer. LOL. So that’s why I’m also going to be blogging about container gardens, and indoor plants that you can grow on a sunny windowsill. (Thanks for all the feedback I got yesterday. I LOVE hearing from readers!)

One thing I did yesterday was fill up an old pot with some good potting soil, and sprinkle a package of sweet basil seeds on top. I covered those with 1/4″ more seed starting mix (so it would be fluffy) and watered it well. The seeds should sprout within a week or so. This can stay in a sunny windowsill until the plants get taller, then I might transplant them into larger pots, or out into the garden beds. Basil is an herb that almost everyone enjoys, I think, and the small seedlings can be harvested with scissors and used in a salad, or stir fry.

So if you’re suffering from spring fever like I am, find a small pot, some soil, and a packet of seeds (organic is best). Within a month or so, you should have some basil for your supper!

Don’t forget to sub to this blog so you don’t miss any exciting gardening adventures!

dig it!

bobbi c.
Copyright ©2005-2007 Bobbi A. Chukran

container gardens, indoor plants, garden blog, organic seeds, basil