Monday 9 April 2012

Starting Seeds, by Kira

With the help from Andrew, Auren and Fern we were able to start our seeds today. I made up some seed cups last night. We had a roll of cardboard paper so I cut and stapled it using the kids staple-less stapler to make pots a little larger than a toilet paper roll.



Auren and Fern then helped me fill the pots with soil-less soil and tuck the seeds in. 

We made up some plant tags with Auren's typewriter and labeled the pots. They now sit on the beautiful shelf Andrew made for me to hold my plants.


They are in a window sill which is not the best of place for seedlings because of drafts. The shelf is built over top of the wood stove so I'm hoping the heat will disperse underneath keeping them warm. I know the wood stove will dry them out, so we will have thick plastic draped over them to hopefully hold the moisture in. 
The seeds i have started today are lemon cucumber, red kuri squash, purple tomatillos, ground cherries and calendula. I did try growing calendula last year but it never worked out. I directly sowed the seeds into the ground. I am still not sure if they really need to be started indoors early or not. When I planted them it was beside the zucchini. Well, the zucchini in no time at all was towering over the little calendula sprouts and shaded them, so sadly nothing came of them. This year I'm starting a few inside as well as directly sowing some into the ground. I will give them lots of room this time. Hoping they grow for me. Calendula looks and smells beautiful, not to mention the health benefits this plant holds. Antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, anti-fungal,  it has skin regenerative properties. Its great for babies and adults. If anyone has any seed starting tips or any information on calendula please share with me.
As our seeds progress I will post updates.





6 comments:

  1. Hi Kira. I found your site from a comment at Canadian Dirtbags and glad I did. You have a great blog.

    We are fairly new at taking our gardening to the serious level. ;) We have doubled what we had to work with last year and are pretty excited to see what happens this year. You just can't beat the taste of fresh vegetables, without chemicals.

    About Calendula, we bought seeds last year, started them indoors. They went wild! Once they were out in the garden, they bloomed until winter. We saved the seeds from them. I have envelopes. More than I will ever need.

    I started them indoors this year and they are up about 2 inches. As long as they are in the sun, you shouldn't have any problems.

    We are just over an hour south of you! Neat to find someone homesteading so close!

    Good luck in your adventures! I see you have your address posted. If you would like some of the Calendula seeds we saved, I could mail them to you.

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    1. Hello there. Thank you for your comment.
      The calendula that I started inside is up about two inches and the seeds I started outside are just starting to sprout now. I did read that the plant could take a hard frost, I thought I would try some outside as well.
      Do you use your calendula? I wanted to make some soaps and salves using calendula.
      We have expanded our garden this year as well, we may even go a little bigger if Andrew gets our chickens fenced in. They eat a lot of insects but pick at our vegetables and fruit as well.
      I would love a pack of your calendula seeds. Kind of you to offer. I'm not sure that it is our mailing address Andrew has posted. Maybe I could send some seeds your way this fall. I have not kept many of my own seeds in the past but intend to do so this year. Let me no if there is anything on my seed list you may be interested in.

      Box 146
      Gooderham ON
      K0M 1R0

      Thank You!

      Kira

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    2. We dry the flower heads and use it for tea. It is so good! In the summer we make a big batch, let it cool, add some green tea a touch of anise hyssop, the best iced tea ever!

      This year I want to make some ointment because it is amazing for skin, nothing is better for burns of any type, not even aloe.

      We saved all our seeds last summer, we'll find out how it works this year. (Crossing our fingers)

      We had snow this morning, ugh! Do you sell your meat, eggs? We should keep in touch!

      I'll send the seeds out this week. Mine came up great.

      Here is a link to the post I did about our calendula.
      http://thebeaddenshowto.wordpress.com/2012/03/29/pot-marigold-calendula/

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  2. Sorry, I was a bit late. Sent the seeds out today, gave you some oregano seeds we saved last year. Ours grew back, let me know if they grow.

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  3. Just wondering if you got the seeds. I hope so.
    You have a great blog! One of the best out there.

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    1. Hello there.
      Thank you for the seeds I just arrived yesterday. I plan to get them into the ground tomorrow. All of the plants i started indoors are doing great. The ground cherries and tomatillos still seem really small, only two true leaves on each plant. The information I have for starting seeds say to start tomatoes mid April, if you start them to soon they will go leggy...next year I will start the tomato family earlier.
      I'm glad your enjoying our blog. :)
      Kira

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