Growing Vegetables From Seed

I'm by no means an expert on growing seedlings. Now that I have that out of the way, I'll try to share the little bit I've learned about growing plants from seed.

Buying and growing seeds gives you a much larger pool of plant varieties to select from as a home gardener. If you are like me, you'll want to grow plants you can later collect seeds from and replant. You can't do this with most of the veggies you buy at Lowes or Walmart. They are what's called F1-Hybrids (most of the time). Hybrids have their uses. They often make great plants. Sungold tomatoes, for example, are one of my all-time favorites (though I haven't tried a ton of varieties yet. I plan to.). But with hybrids, you can't collect seeds and expect to end up with plants that are "true to type." They'll vary from their parent plant. They're mutts not pure-bred.

Assuming you have some pure-bred seed to plant, the best way to start them is in a light and fluffy type soil. Many plants will actually grow better if never transplanted. With these type plants, your best bet is directly planting the seeds in the ground outdoors when the time is right (usually after last frost for your area but depends on the plant). These type plants are usually fairly hardy seedlings and prime for a late harvest. Pumpkins are just one example. The county extension office for your state will usually tell you right when to directly seed plants for your region. Seed packets will specify what zone your state is in, but usually your town might have a much different climate from another part of the state, so check your county extension office website.

Some plants, you'll desire an early harvest but the plants won't tolerate cold conditions. Tomatoes are a good example of this type plant. This type of plant should be started indoors. The peat-moss pellet green-houses work great on a small scale. They will run you $3-$15 for 10-100 pods. A little pricey for large scale sprouting, but for small scale, it works pretty nicely.

Get your pods nice and wet and allow them to expand. Once they are nice and expanded, soft, and mushy, you can press your seeds in. A pencil works nicely for creating a hole. Some seeds will grow better resting on top of the peat (it helps if it's a little raked up or loose) and others grow better at a depth (1/4", 1", etc..). It depends on the plant. A general rule of thumb though, is to plant the seed twice as deep as the diameter of the seed.

Leave a cover on your store bought or makeshift green house (saran rap, etc..). This will keep the soil moist and the air humid. The plants should sprout within the advertised amount of time with a fairly high success rate (up to 95%) depending on the plant type and seed age. Fresh seeds are better. If you are saving your seed, that's a whole different article. Once the seeds sprout, remove the cover and add light. A well-lit window or lamp will work. The lamp will contribute to warming the soil which will benefit the speedy growth of the plant. Many plants grow best at 75 or 80 degrees which is slightly warmer than most people's homes.

Another important factor, besides loose, soft, fluffy soil and adequate water is temperature. Seeds won't sprout in any temperature, but if you are growing in your home, chances are the temperature is right. Many seeds grow best when the temperature changes from one range (cold) to another range (warm) and will grow much better if chilled first. Depends on the seed, but most standard varieties aren't too fussy and will grow just fine without chilling.

Once the plants are sprouted and have formed their true leaves (they'll look different than the 1st two leaves that sprouted), you can do one of three things:

• Let it develop in the peat pod for a direct transfer outdoors at a later time
• Move it to a newer / bigger container to allow more growing time indoors because it's outgrown it's peat pod and it's too cold outside
• Move it outside. Before you move it outside, though, you'll want to harden your plants for optimal growth and least transplant shock. Your seedlings will no doubt be very tender from being grown in near perfect conditions. When they're tender, they grow fast but die easily
  

The environment in the garden is virtually guaranteed to be more harsh than the environment within your house. So, harden seedlings firt. Start by taking the plants outdoors on a mild day and placing in indirect sunlight for a few hours (1-2 hours at first). Then start exposing to direct light for short periods of time in the morning or late evening. Then leave outdoors in direct sun for 1/2 day for a couple of days. The entire process should take a minimum of one week. Two weeks wouldn't hurt. Now the plants should be hardened a bit and ready for transplant. It's best to transplant on a cloudy / overcast day (best) or late in the day (second best).

If your plants aren't too large, and the dirt isn't too compacted, your best bet is to move the transplant straight into the soil disturbing the roots as little as possible. If it's compacted, break it up a tiny bit, but be careful because the plants are tender and will go into shock if disturbed too much. The plants might (or might not) survive shock, but it will set them back in growing for a while.

If you want a lower mortality rate among seedlings, then follow these intructions.

Perennial Vegetables & Super Self Seeders

For several years now, gardening has become more and more a time consuming function of our family. It dawned on me, there's got to be an easier way to "Grow Your Own". There have to be SOME perennial vegetables, right? If you read my asparagus article, you know there's at least one, but I was curious to know more. "Super self seeders" are includes in this article too, meaning plants reseeding with no extra effort on my part. Honestly, some plants, it's hard to tell if they're reseeding or resprouting.

Let me clarify by saying, much of my descriptions on these plants, is just my experience, and may not be the behavior of these plants accross the board. We live in zone 7 of Alabama, so we're speaking of plant behavior in this location. Also, some of these plants I've never grown and am just sharing what I've learned from others:

-- Asparagus - See my earlier article for more on this great plant. It will produce up to 25 years and is a very pretty fern during it's off season. If you buy all males, they'll produce more. If you buy females, you'll end up with lots of baby asparagus. Either way, they're perennials.

-- Fruit Trees: I'm not arguing against buying your fruit trees from reputable nurserys where they'll place one variety of fruit tree on another's rootstock for various reasons, but I've known many people to grow from seed/pit with great success. It takes longer and you might (or might not) have a wimpier tree. If money's tight, experiment with a seed or pit. Can't hurt. If you are interested in growing fruit trees, definitely do your research before selecting a variety. Some are more work them others. Some need more/less water. Some produce more/less fruit. Some require polinators or more than one pollinator! I made the mistake of buying a Mutsu (or Crispin) apple tree. This tree has sterile pollen meaning it requires two other varieties. One to pollinate it, and another to pollinate the pollinator. I ended up with three apple trees when all I really wanted was one. Live and learn.

• Apples - Granny Smith is a good variety for Alabama. Some even claim it's a self - pollinator. Besides crab apples, it's one of very few 'self pollinating' apple trees, though the tree experts say it will produce much better with a cross pollinator (another variety of apple tree).
  
• Peaches - Very pretty and tastey too! Usually (if not always) a self pollinator


• Pears - Usually (if not always) a cross pollinator


• Figs -


• Pomegranite - always grown from seed rather than rootstock. Fairly unproductive tree, overall
  
• Mulberry - Makes giant blackberry looking fruits except on a tree


• Cherries - Will have to fight to keep your fruit. Birdies love this stuff.


• Plums - short lived for a tree


• Non-astringent Persimmon - oriental fruit, massive producer of fruit if grown properly. The non-astringent variety is better tasting, in my opinion, because you can eat it right off the tree when it's still firm like an apple.


• Citrus - Meyer's lemon, Satsuma (tangerines), Kumquat, Limequat, Lemonquat. These are all more cold hardy varieties of citrus than your standard variety but would still require protection in the winter. Meyers lemon is grown from seed (not rootstock) even at nurseries.

-- Nut trees:

• Pecans work alot like apples. You have to have two different varieties to pollinate eachother. Strange but true.


• Chestnut, (lots more I'm sure) .

-- Fruit Bushes: Do your research on fruit bushes regarding pollinators. Blueberries, for example, require two different species to pollinate eachother. Blackberries are fine individually.

• Blueberries - needs 2 varieties with similar bloom time to cross pollinate


• Elderberry


• Blackberries - in Alabama, you probably have some of these growing wild in your backyard, but there are actually cultivated varieties with fewer seeds, bigger berries, and fewer/no thorns


• Raspberries - self pollinating
  
• Cranberries - saw these for sale at Home Depot, surprisingly


• Currants - even the bark smells good
  
• Lingonberries - these berries are served at IKEA's cafeteria in case you're thinking "What's a lingonberry?"
  
  

-- Grape or Muscadine Vine - In Alabama, chances are you already have some muscadine growing somewhere in your backyard, but there are great cultivated varieties available too, particularly at Petals From The Past in Jemison, Alabama. They have a u-pick orchard, and offer classes on growing techniques. Great place.

-- Kiwi Vine - This plant has weed-like growth habits and requires regular pruning. It's heavy and destructive without proper support. Must have a male and a female to produce fruit. Takes 5-7 years to start fruiting. There are the "fuzzy kiwis" like you see in the grocery store, the smooth variety, and even a golden variety. The golden variety is interestingly different, a little softer and less tangy than the fuzzy variety. I vote for the green stuff. The kid votes for the gold.

-- Rhubard: This plant will keep producing for up to 20 years. It can be used to make pie and jams. Never even tasted the stuff.

-- Artichoke - Each exotic looking plant grows to about 6 feet in height & diameter. The bush produces approximately 40-60 veggies per season, once mature. Harvest from spring through autumn. The plants lifespan is five years. The vegetable will stay fresh once picked for a few weeks.

-- Passion Flower - This is a BEAUTIFUL flower and it makes an edible fruit too. I'm guessing it's reseeding rather than regrowing, because of how it's always moving around each year. I actually have it all over my backyard, and never knew what it was or that it was edible until some recent research. This year, I'll definitely try some.

-- Horseradish - this is a historical plant with references in Greek mythology and ancient Egypt. This low maintenance perennial's roots can be dug up in spring and fall, broken off, and replanted. New growth is the most tastey and pungent. The strong aroma isn't noticable until the root is ground up and exposed to air. Care must be taken to prevent this root from overtaking your garden.

-- Lettuce Plants:

• Arugula - That this plant is a perennial was a surprise to me, but it survived recent snow storms and cold winters fine in my garden. It not only is perennial, it's evergreen, and very, very prolific. It drops seeds and sprouts effortlessly. In case you are wondering what Arugula is, it's a nutty tasting lettuce plant. I, personally, don't like eating pure Arugula in a salad, but it's tastey mixed with Spinach, which leads me to the next vegetable.
  
• New Zealand Spinach - This is a spinach variety suited to hot weather and is disease and pest resistent unlike the standard spinach varieties. It's very good at reseeding and is known as an heirloom variety. Interestingly, the spinach is rarely eaten by it's indigenous people and is known more as a weed there.


• Radicchio - aka Chickory - It is perennial through mild winters. Haven't grown it yet, but plan to. Might be interesting to make the chicory out of it and add to coffee.


• Simpson Lettuce - haven't grown this, but it's supposed to reseed nicely.

-- Lots of Herbs (not a complete list):

• Parsley (biannual ot perennial, but combined with it's reseeding capabilities, it makes the list)


• Rosemary - evergreen
  
• Lavendar


• Sage - sticks around for as long as you have mild winters


• Thyme - It grows back, but always weaker than the year before unless you divide it


• Catnip


• Chives


• Garlic - So long as you leave a clove in the ground or else dry and replant


• Shallot - So long as you leave a clove in the ground or else dry and replant


• Mint


• Tarragon


• Fennel


• Lemon balm

-- Ginger

-- Strawberries - produces for 2 - 3 years

Learned quite a bit just from writing this article. Will have to try an all new approach in the garden next year. This year's mapped out already.

Planting Asparagus

Ahh, asparagus. Ok, so the above picture isn't mine. But it's what I'm shooting for!

There are two things I really enjoy: gardening and researching gardening. So in my ongoing search for the perfect garden vegetable, I came across the asparagus. I never gave it too much consideration before now for two reasons:

• You don't usually see this plant for sale in the run of the mill garden shops.
  
• Asparagus really aren't my favorite vegetable. They're good, just not my favorite.
  
  

So what makes this vegetable so great?

1. It's one of the few perennial vegetables. Some people claim 25 years production from a single plant. Each foot long section of row can allegedly produce 1 pound of veggie matter per growing season. It only takes a little while to figure out how much work it is to "Grow Your Own" and asparagus takes a little work out of it.



2. Although you have to wait a while for that initial crop, the plants are ornamental in addition to edible. They are beautiful feathery fern like plants for much of the summer and fall. Most folks cut the stalks back after the first freeze. Supposed to help with disease or something.



3. Once the asparagus beds are established, they form a tight knit root network that helps prevent weeds from surfacing.



4. The plants are among the most drought tolerant of vegetables. They want their roots to be cool though, so you have to bury them deep. They don't like to sit in water either, so you have to make the soil sandy / loamy.
   

VARIETY:
At the local super garden center in Birmingham, the only variety around was a male/female mix of Martha Washington crowns. Crowns are root bundles (no leaves) that are 1 - 2 years old. We bought a 6-pack for $3.98. Actually we bought 4 6-packs. I just couldn't stop myself. We were in danger of not having room for all the plants. The male/female mixed variety will have the added benefit (or down-side depending on how you look at it) of growing red berries that will drop to grow new asparagus plants. The energy spent growing these little red berries allegedly reduces crop yield a bit over the competition which is an all male hybrid called Jersey Giant or Jersey Night. It wasn't exactly competition for me though. All they had, at the store I went to, was Martha Washington, and I was ready to plant me some asparagus. You can also start asparagus as seed, but that requires a little bit more attention and effort. I personally, just don't have room in my tiny house for any more starter peat moss pellet pallets.

Occasionally you'll see a more expensive white asparagus at the grocery store. White and Green asparagus are actually the same variety, but white takes a little more effort to grow. You can force asparagus white by not allowing the stalks to receive sunlight. This is achieved by creating mounds of dirt around the emerging stalks.

PLANTING:
Now that I was home with my bundles of crowns, I had to get these suckers into the ground. I immediately tore open the bag, just to see what they all looked like only to realize, I probably should have had my ground dug up and ready for all these plants, especially with them now lying in the open sun, baking. I quickly stuffed them back in the bag and hid them under a piece of paper to get them out of direct sunlight. I started a trench about the width of a standard shovel and 12" deep (easier said than done). Next, I poured about 2" of peat moss in. Then I sprinkled it with a fertilizer and mixed it in with the peat. Then I took the asparagus plants and stuck them in the peat, and surrounded them. It was funny, because I remember reading that "crowns" were just roots but my little plants looked like a little root knot with a bunch of chopped off asparagus stalks growing up. I was so proud, planting these little guys bundle/knot thingy down ward and pointed-end upward. It suddenly dawned on me, that I really wasn't sure if those were "chopped off asparagus stalks." I darted inside, and googled images of asparagus crowns. Well the "chopped off asparagus stalks" were really "chopped off roots" so they needed to go down not up. I ran back outside and turned them all around. This time, I fanned them all out like an octopus with the "knot" pointed up instead. Usually roots are so tiny, these things were big. Not sure if all crown packs come like that or not.

Anyhow, all the plants are in the ground now (as of yesterday). Hopefully, they'll grow into something big and beautiful.

Pumpkins Grown By Milk

I read a few months ago, in Farmer Boy by Laura Ingals Wilder, that you could grow a pumpkin to be huge if you replaced water with milk. I did some research and it said that all you have to do is fill a syringe with milk and tear off all the flowers except one and then stick the syringe in the stem and let the milk go in. Here are the instructions from http://www.ehow.com/:

Things You’ll Need:
Pumpkin seeds
Sharp knife
Clippers
String or wick
Covered pan
Milk, preferably 2%
Manure
Spray bottle
Syringe
Step1Decide on the method you would like to use to grow a milk-fed pumpkin. You can also select several plants and use different techniques to see what works best. Who knows, maybe you'll find your pumpkin sporting a blue ribbon at the state fair.
Step2Use the classic method to grow a milk-fed pumpkin. Choose a healthy-looking pumpkin about the size of a softball and trim all other flowers from the vine. You want the all of plant's energy and nutrition directed towards the one pumpkin.
Step3Make a small slit in the stem approximately 3 inches from the pumpkin. Do not cut too deeply since you only need to insert the wick or string 1/4 of an inch into the stem. Insert one end of the wick into the slit and the other into a covered pan placed in a small hole next to the pumpkin.
Step4Fill a bowl with milk and one tablespoon of sugar. Check the bowl every day to make sure the milk has not soured or been soaked up by the pumpkin. Two percent milk is recommended, but you can dilute whole milk if you choose. Check the wick to make sure it hasn't come loose from the vine.
Step5Use milk as fertilizer if you choose not to use the bowl and wick method. This works best if mixed with manure and ground-up fish. Another approach is to pour a cup of milk around the roots of the pumpkin every day. It's believed that bacteria grow in the enzymes because the milk is warm.
Step6Spray the leaves of the plant with milk. This method is used in New Zealand and is believed to strengthen the leaves of the plant and enhance fruit production. Scientists claim the phosphates in the milk are responsible for the positive effects. Another way to grow a milk-fed pumpkin is to inject milk into the stem with a syringe.

Gardening For Kids

I am an eleven year old girl that has just started to garden. The first thing I did was start tilling some dirt in my back yard and plant some onions I bought. It was simple for my first real garden and, of course, was very proud of myself. I also started a milk fed pumpkin and is growing in a milk carton ( see Milk Pumpkin Project). I have also started buying the little boxes of peat pods and plant seeds in them.
Peat pod houses are good for growing your plants really fast. I grew some bachelor buttons, sunflowers, and cucumbers in a week (sprouting, not fully in bloom). I recomend these boxes of pods for beginers and for pros because they are much easier for growing plants than planting seeds in the ground.