We’ve started a new journey, the journey of gardening and growing our own food! Let me tell you a little bit about this journey. The moment I decided to go vegan I fell in love with the idea of growing my own food, mostly because I became aware with all the processes the commercially grown food go through before it lands on my plate. Not only that but also because I came to learn that from all the amazing plants we can eat, only about 1% (don’t quote me on this) is being sold in the stores. Well I want it all! And I want it fresh.
Another reason for me wanting to plant certain flowers and herbs is because I believe that some will aid in my recovery from eczema. Although our current garden isn’t huge, I’ll be taking advantage of all the space which has been given to me. If this works out I might even look into renting a little plot of land to expand my adventures, but for now, let’s keep it simple and stick with the basics.
I’ve asked you if you wanted me to share these garden adventures, and most of you liked the idea. It is going to be fun because we are literally starting from scratch, with some seeds and limited (let’s call it zero) knowledge about growing plants.
I’ll be sharing my mistakes and the things I’ve learned about (inside) gardening through these posts and I invite you to plant with me, because we’ll be using many of these plants in our recipes!
Now with all of that covered let’s begin our adventure!
Check list.
- Seeds
- Organic potting soil
- Seed starter pots
- Water
- Tags to write the names and dates of planting
Planting Seeds.
My gardening adventure started the 16th of march when I decided to plant my first seeds, nasturtium & pansies which I got at my local gardening centres.
My second batch of plants I planted the 25th of march and include even more nasturtiums, lemon balm, true lavender, cinnamon basil & cornflower.
Nasturtiums:
These beautiful flowers aren’t only going to bring some colour and live to our little garden, but they are also edible, and are supposed to have a peppery taste! They will make a great addition to salad and could add some colour to otherwise plain meals. You can eat the leaves, flowers and seeds and are also supposed to be great for treating eczema and are a natural antibiotic.
Of course I can’t confirm if they are actually great for treating eczema, but we’re about to find out!
I planted my first batch of these the 16 and decided to put some in seed starter pots which I placed on my kitchens windowsill, and another batch in a bigger pot which I’d leave outside in the shadow, just to see what would happen. It didn’t come as much of a surprise to find that the seeds cozying up in the kitchen were the ones who decided to sprout first, which happened on the 24th of march. These seeds are thriving compared to the ones I planted outside, these are yet to sprout, if they will at all.
This delay in sprouting might be due to a combination of factors being, water, sunlight and temperature. Since were in march the temperature is slowly rising but might have been a bit too cold for the poor seeds. It also rained quite a lot for about 3 days of them being out, so the seeds might have rotted? I don’t even know, but to set this experiment forth I planted some extra seeds outside in the same type of container on the 25th of march. The temperature has risen a couple of degrees and it’s going to be less wet. I still left them in the shadow the first day before discovering all seedlings need sunlight, so from now on I’ll make sure my seedlings will get enough sunlight!
I give them a little bit of water every day in the beginning stage, but I read that these plants don’t mind a little negligence.
Pansies:
These flowers just look way too cute and my mom loves them, she really wanted to add these to the garden, so I decided to pick up some seeds. They also turned out to be edible so that’s another win! These flowers come in a range of different colour and species and are all equally gorgeous. I planted a mix of Swiss giant pansies and am looking forward to see the colours they’ll produce.
These flowers I planted in a medium pot which I placed in another windowsill which is a bit less warm, to see what would happen of course.
The first sprouts started to surface the 27th of march, I don’t know if this is normal or if they were a bit late because I didn’t water them regularly the first few days. I honestly didn’t know you had to water seeds & seedlings often in the beginning stage, this just goes to show how much of a gardening noob I really am.
So what did we learn so far?
- To sprout our seedlings in a sunny place
- To water the seedlings regularly
- That during early spring it might be a better idea to start sprouting seeds indoors, or at least for faster sprouting rates.
What to expect?
The rest of the seeds were planted two days ago so I’ll report back next week with the next gardening update to let you know how thing are going. Let’s see if this gardening noob can become a pro! During this journey we’ll be covering a couple of points.
- Basics on how to plant and take care of herbs, flowers and other plants.
- Budget friendly D.I.Y. projects for home gardeners.
- How to garden indoors for those without a garden.
- Creating delicious recipes and meals using our home-grown flowers and plants.
- Medicinal properties of certain plants
- And more!
I really hoped you liked this post, it will be the first of many and I really hope you’ll tune in for our next gardening adventure. How awesome would it be to grow food together and use our home-grown plants to create gorgeous and medicinal dishes!? I’ll be making many mistakes along the road and feel free to help me out by sharing your tips and tricks so we can all become pro gardeners.
One love,
A.J.