Creeping Thyme Creeping Up

I cannot stress enough just how difficult I find growing from seeds to be. I’ve tried with rosemary, sage, microgreens, and a few other (usually edible) plants. Sometimes wee sprouts would pop up, only for the hatchlings to take one look at the world and decide that living was not for them.

Well, I’ve gained a couple bits of information that may change the game, and Red Creeping Thyme has been my first guinea pig.

1. There’s soil specifically for seed-starting (additional note: meant for newborns, but not adolescents, possibly not toddlers either)
2. Seeds start out better in small sections of dirt, not plopped on a giant container of soil (perhaps because water will seep down to the bottom of the large pot and not be accessible for the rootless babies chilling near the soil surface? I’m not entirely sure on this.)
3. Clear Plastic Eggcartons work as mini greenhouses that maintain the perfect, moist atmosphere. In the following two photos, compare the growth in the clear carton, which I barely watered, versus the barrenness of the lidless paper carton, which I watered more frequently yet always seemed dry.

With the (so far) wild success of this first round, I’ve planted a second set of creeping thyme. Fingers crossed!

Starting the Pepper Process

I swear by my pretty floral bonnet, all seed-starting will only ever be done with clear eggcartons.

The next test subject: bell peppers.

For these puppies, I removed seeds from store-bought peppers, and set them (the seeds, not the peppers) out to dry for a couple days. They might have gotten a bit too much sunlight, so if they don’t sprout, we’ll blame this first.

I think I had read somewhere to plant these disc-shaped germs vertically, so they don’t get waterlogged. Yes, let’s not waterboard the seeds. We don’t want to add ‘torture’ to our list of crimes.

Garlic: It’s Alive!

Garlic is apparently regrown via a propagation technique, not grown from a seed. Who knew? Well, now we do.

Despite my “2 cloves means 5 cloves” recipe translation, I occasionally find some garlic bulbs sprouting before I make them into food. I had the idea to take a couple of these early starters and plug them into some dirt.

According to people who know what they’re doing, we’re supposed to give each clove plenty of space, with at least 4-8” apart (nope, did not do that) and 2-4” deep (nope again). I buried each with the tips poking out of the dirt, like itty bitty icebergs. I didn’t have a big enough pot. And I’m lazy.

Holy Guacamole, they have grown SO FAST! That sort of zeal to be alive is the energy I need in my plants.

I’m curious to see if the bulbs grow smooshed together, like too much batter per pancake on a skillet.

Storm Alert

Now we know: if outdoor pots are not weighted down with wet soil, rocks or by virtue of the pots themselves being heavy material, strong winds will knock them over.

Gratitude

To all the humans who gifted me plastic cartons when I sent out the call.

To the phenomenal friend who helped me through the initial, technical stages of setting up this blog and simultaneously introduced me to the term “body double.”

To the colorful comrade with an eye for lighting who lent a hand with a hands-full photo.

To my brainstorm buddies, who inspired me to create this blog.