Planting Seeds

I am still a novice at this whole gardening thing.  I've been doing it for a few years, but there is so much that I don't know.  I was lucky, the first year I decided to plant outdoors was described as "ideal growing weather", meaning it never got too hot or too cold, it rained just the right amount, and I was energized by the seemingly easy nature of growing my own food.  The plants that I purchased, that is...not the seeds that I purchased.  The little packets came with instructions for planting, and after reading them, looking at the ground, looking back at the packet, I just dug a hole and flung them all in it.  I got one tiny carrot out of it.  Nothing else stuck or grew or produced.  So I tried again the next year, with some flower seeds from my grandma.  I gave each seed its own little place in a pot of soil, then watered for about a week.  Then Winston dumped the pot out on the lawn.

I'm trying again this year.  I've read the packets, I watched a Lowe's video online about planting seeds, I ran some questions and thoughts past Joe (Mr. Green Thumb), and we've watched and read The Lorax almost every day since Christmas.  I wanted to do this with the boys (or at least Winston) so that they understand what we are doing, so they can make the connection between my pots of dirt and the fresh veggies they enjoy later.  So today I took a cue from Messy Mandy and planted seeds with Winston.  I had wished for warmer weather so we could do it outside, but the forecast is dreary!

First we filled the cups with potting soil.  Winston loved using the shovel.

I soaked the soil with water and then Winston poked shallow holes in each one to drop the seed in.

The lavender seeds were so small, I did those ones.  The tomatoes were bigger, and so Winston planted them.

Our seeds found a sunny windowsill to germinate on, and I added toothpick flags so we remember which seed is in which cup!

Mikey woke up in time to help me sweep up the dirt that fell on the floor.

We were able to talk through the whole process: what did we need to plant seeds (cups, dirt, seeds and water!), compared the sizes and shapes of the different seeds, and talked about what seeds need to grow into plants.  We quoted the Lorax, "Plant a Truffula seed, treat it with care.  Give it clean water and feed it fresh air."  Once all the seeds were planted, Winston asked for carrots (one of the seed packets), and I explained that we would wait to get carrots and other food, because the seeds would take many weeks to grow.

So now we wait.  Spring is here, but the frost is still on high alert.  Looks like our seeds will be staying safe and warm in our kitchen for the foreseeable future!