The Dream of a Seed
For those of us in Northern Hemisphere most of us are thinking of winter gardens with a dream of a seed in our heads. That is where it all begins! What can we grow with a shorter amount of daylight and with winter improaching upon us. For me that means a lot of root veggies and brassicas. Check out this new video of Ron planting some of our brassicas here.
Starting Seeds
Those seeds are easy to plan and start for your winter garden. I start seeds a little differently then some by sprouting the seeds before I plant them in soil. It seems to give me a better percentage of live plants then if I just put the seeds in soil. I get a rush when I realize that the one seed that I have started by sprouting it, then planting it and often transplanting it once before it goes outside ends up as a plant that creates food for us. I like the rush of that feeling! I explain it better here in an article I have written.
Planting Seeds
So, there are seeds that I start early and transplant out in the garden. There are also seeds that go directly into the garden. I think of carrots and beans. With carrots I will seed them directly in the garden when it cools down and they will grow from Fall to Spring. I’ll harvest them just in time to put some warm weather crop in their old garden space. Beans and beets seed I planted directly into the ground as well and since they grow at a faster pace then carrots I normally can get a harvest before cold weather hits us down here in north Texas. Here is a fun blog I wrote about carrots.
I hope you are making plans for your fall garden. Feel free to leave me a note about your favorite fall veggie.
Here is to your homesteading dreams,
Shawn