Last week I excitedly started my Monday morning. I determined I would be sowing or planting seeds. What is so fun and exhilarating about sticking tiny, often hard to see, little pieces of what looks like nothing, in soil? Potential. The prospect of all to be seen from a tiny start. Future hopes and plans lie in the planting of a seed.
I rejoiced. I sang hymns of old as they popped into my head. I knew I would be accomplishing a goal today. Today I celebrate planting seeds. Planting vegetable seeds on June 8 might be a week or two later compared to others in my area. I do not worry for the growing season in Zone 5 allows time for the plants to grow and produce.
The bright sun warmed my skin and a heavy breeze kept me from becoming too hot. The temperature, forecasted to be near 90 degrees continued to rise as I worked. I knew I needed singular focus to accomplish the days task of placing seeds beneath the fertile soil. I knew today required me to push beyond comfort.
Homesteading and farming brings joy, but discomfort too. On seed planting day I would choose to focus my thoughts on the future joys of seeing new life push through the soil, satisfaction in producing my own food, and ignore dwelling on thoughts pertaining to physical discomfort.
A little bit more of my dream happens today as I take another step toward producing my own food. Garden space is larger in 2020 allowing for a greater number of plants and varieties.
To read how I put the chickens to use preparing garden ground, click below.
The previous week, Julie from Blooms on 800, brought her tiller and worked the ground saving me the hard work of turning the dirt with a shovel. Before I started planting in the 10′ x 20′ garden, I used my ‘Maria’ powered hand pushed tiller to go over the ground one more time.
In 2020, I am trying new heirloom seeds. Peanuts, Quinoa, Sorghum, and Flax are 4 I feel super excited about. The grains will potentially help produce my own chicken feed in the future. I say this lightly as I am not exactly sure how the process will all play out. Grains also potentially provide flour when ground and would replace pasta in some dishes as healthier options.
Peas and cucumbers, also heirloom, make up the last of the new to CG Heartbeats Farm garden plants. Look for blog post in the fall and winter sharing my process for growing from seed and saving seeds for next year.
A favorite returning vegetable of mine is the heirloom tomato I grew last year. Peppers, sugar baby watermelon and butternut squash return also. I did not plant all the seeds today.
Herb seeds will be started in pots and planted near the house where garlic grows now. These include Sage, Thyme, Dill, Basil and Oregano.
Julie from Blooms on 800 generously shared a few herb plants with me. She started these from seeds in her green house. Now, I have a few plants I will be able to gather from right away. I plan to leave these as potted herbs for the summer.
While I worked, I imaged the futire fruits of my labor. I thought about how pretty the Flax Flowers would look. I considered how I would create places for the cucumbers and peas to vine. I wondered how I would stake the Quinoa if I needed to.
Before I planted any seeds, I considered my layout for the garden spaces. Where would I plant each variety to allow for maximum plant productivity? I read the seed packages. If the information I looked for was not listed, I searched google. Between the 2 sources I came up with a plan, a garden layout.
While the majority of the seed planting happened on Monday, I continued to plant through the next week. I planted carrots, sweet potato starts, romaine lettuce seeds, spinach, moss rose, and 5 herb varieties.
I intend to plant a few flower seeds and perhaps bulbs too. My heart is happy with the seed planting progress. I am even beginning to see seedlings appear through the soil one week later. The way a seed grows into a tiny plant which continues to develop until it produces its own seed amazes me. New life, sustainable, regenerative cycles and producing my own food bring satisfaction to my soul.
I may harvest and preserve a couple weeks later due to later seed planting, but harvest and preserve I intend to do. Today I planted. Tonight, I will water the seeds. After today, I wait for seedlings to appear.
