For the past two summers we have grown our garden from already sprouted plants. For some reason I thought it was too hard to grow vegetables from seed, so I would pick out the already started veggies that someone else grew (magically, I thought) from the store and plant them. We would spend upwards of $70 on these pre-started plants, so this year we decided to see if we could grow our vegetables from seeds.
Part of the motivation to grow from seeds came from our discovery of Jiffy Pots and Jiffy Greenhouses. The greenhouses have 6 peat pellets in them where we planted our seeds in order to get them started. Once the sprouts outgrew the greenhouse, we transplanted them into the Jiffy Pots, which are biodigradable pots that you can plant directly into the ground. On planting day, no transplanting will be necessary, we can just bury each pot! That sounds easy enough!
This may sound really lame to say, but I am really fascinated that a seed can grow into a plant. I took grade eleven biology so I know scientifically how and why it works, but watching them actually do it has been blowing my mind. Just mix water, dirt, a seed, and some sun, and presto - you have a plant. It has been a neat show to watch over the past few weeks.
So far my Jiffy Pot growing experience has been great. Only four of the seeds we planted didn't sprout, and we planted well over 80 seeds, so I think those are amazing results! Plus, even with the supplies we bought (greenhouses, extra peat pellets, all the seeds, potting soil), we have only spent about $40 this year on our garden. We've spent a little over half as much as last year and we probably have five times as many plants. Not only is growing from seed fun to watch, it also saves us money. I love that.
Our sprouts are ready to go into the ground and I am really eager to get them there. We were going to plant our garden last week, but the weather forcast said it would be cold on the weekend - and it sure was - we got snow up here! The weather is supposed to be warming up by the end of the week and hopefully we can get our vegetables planted then. I have a feeling this summer is going to be great for gardening, and I can't wait to see what comes up!
Our collection of seeds - veggies and herbs
Part of the motivation to grow from seeds came from our discovery of Jiffy Pots and Jiffy Greenhouses. The greenhouses have 6 peat pellets in them where we planted our seeds in order to get them started. Once the sprouts outgrew the greenhouse, we transplanted them into the Jiffy Pots, which are biodigradable pots that you can plant directly into the ground. On planting day, no transplanting will be necessary, we can just bury each pot! That sounds easy enough!
Greenhouse, Jiffy Pots, and peat pellets
This may sound really lame to say, but I am really fascinated that a seed can grow into a plant. I took grade eleven biology so I know scientifically how and why it works, but watching them actually do it has been blowing my mind. Just mix water, dirt, a seed, and some sun, and presto - you have a plant. It has been a neat show to watch over the past few weeks.
Bean Seed
Bean spout in peat pellet, grown in the greenhouse
Transplanted to Jiffy Pot
Look at it grow!
It is already getting big and is ready to be planted
Our current sprout collection
Our sprouts are ready to go into the ground and I am really eager to get them there. We were going to plant our garden last week, but the weather forcast said it would be cold on the weekend - and it sure was - we got snow up here! The weather is supposed to be warming up by the end of the week and hopefully we can get our vegetables planted then. I have a feeling this summer is going to be great for gardening, and I can't wait to see what comes up!
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