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In the Presence of Seedlings…

by | Feb 22, 2011

I can't explain how good it feels to be in the presence of seedlings. I heard this once said about being in the presence of cows. It is just soothing to your soul. The early morning when I go out to my grow room to water and fuss over them is the most precious time of day for me.

If you have witnessed a zinnia baby being born or a tomato seedling pushing his head up through the soil, you know what I'm talking about. If not, you should try it. Caring for seeds and bringing them along to produce for you bring to light the miracle that it is.

However, let me warn you, starting seeds is addictive!  And it’s totally fun. My 10 x 10 grow room is part of my workshop.  It faces south with many windows for maximum light. The building is heated and the grow room is always extra toasty, which my seedlings just love. The walls are lined with shelving units equipped with grow lights. I can squeeze about 12,000 seedlings into the grow room at one time using the soil blocking method.

I started my annual "panic" seeds a few weeks ago. Those are the hardy annuals that I planted in the fall, but which are also suitable for planting in early spring. Why am I planting more? Because every year around this time I look at those I planted in fall and they appear dead—as dead as anyone would be that spent the winter outdoors in 20-degree temperatures.  This is my 12th year of doing this, and I still panic, convinced my plantings are dead.  So I start more seeds to replant. After all, we depend on these plants to be a good part of our cash crop for the first couple of months of our cut flower growing operation.

My sister Suzanne pretty much wants to pinch me when this happens every year to remind me of how the story always ends: the plants aren't dead–just the top growth has died back. Once the weather begins to warm, they re-grow and all is well in paradise…except that I now have twice as many plants in the garden that still have to be harvested, bunched, sold…you get the picture.

I deny it, but Suzanne thinks this is just my way of being able to start seeds a little earlier in the season.

 

Happy Spring!!

Lisa Z