Planting Seeds
Posted by Heather Harris
* WARNING: This post contains profanity. (Or does it?)
The other day I was teaching my after school group of fourth graders, and said, "Okay everybody, type MobyMax into your search bar to find the math program we will be using today." Typing began, and slowly a head rolled up from the hunched body slumped nearest to me ( a seating placement that was no accident). Two shifty eyes peaked out from the side of his head, and he said, just loudly enough for his classmates to hear, and just quietly enough to feign genuine concern, "Why does my tablet say Moby...dick?" And then just a glimmer of a well-practiced smirk flashed across his face. He looked up at me oh-so-innocently while nine other students jerked their heads up anticipating what could only be a great show.
What they didn't know was that I'm a hardened veteran. " Oh, Moby DICK!" I exclaimed, loudly enough for the class next door to hear, "Moby DICK is a very famous book! You might get to read Moby DICK when you get to high school!" Eyes grew three times their normal size and then quickly dove back down to the tablets. Silent, on-task work prevailed for the rest of class because the last thing any of them wanted to hear was their teacher shouting that word again. Victory!
And here's where I get to planting seeds. What may not seem evident at first, is that while I was masterfully executing classroom management, I was also planting a seed. This disengaged pupil of mine may now have just a glimmer of hope that somewhere in his future, in the mystical land known as High School, he might get to read a whole book about dick, and not just any dick, but a Moby dick. And that my friends, might just get him to pay a little more attention in reading class tomorrow. Ahh...planting seeds.
Of course I don't just plant metaphorical seeds. I plant real ones too. What I love about seeds is that they are the cheapest and laziest way to get something to grow in your garden. I've tried starting seeds indoors so that I could put strong seedlings out in spring, but they always ended up meeting a cruel fate. They'd mold, they'd get straggly, or they'd get knocked over by curious children or an idiotic dog. So I've given up on that for now. I am now becoming an expert on seeds that can just be plunked directly into the dirt and left to do their thing.
To select seed, I find anything that was either developed at Oregon State to meet the fickle demands of an Oregon growing season, or an heirloom that was brought over from Russia, preferably Siberia. This is the same strategy I use for selecting tomato plants. If some babushka got a tomato to ripen in Siberia, and it was good enough for her to save the seed and try again, then it's good enough for me.
I buy my seeds from a seed catalog, which is to say that I go a little overboard. In a store, you see how many packets of seeds you have loaded up in your cart, and the reasonable part of your brain kicks in and tells you, "That's probably enough." You throw in three more packs and then you're done. With a seed catalog, there is no visual clue that you have outdone yourself, yet again. You start with an organized list of the things you need, then you get blissfully distracted by all of the amazing plants you never noticed before, and before you know it you have enough seed on your order form to supply a forty acre farm. Yet somehow it always comes to $50.00. See what I mean about cheap!
And every year there is always the darling, new plant that I can't live without, even though it probably does not pass the "plunk-it and forget-it" test, it's never even heard of Siberia and was most likely taken directly from somewhere on the Equator and placed in a seed packet for my torment. This year it's the cucamelon. I ordered it in December because I was afraid they would sell out. It is an absolutely adorable cucumber that looks exactly like a miniature watermelon. It is supposed to be intensely crunchy, with just a hint of lime. I'm in love. But I'm not alone. Check out the Sutton gardener video below. He might just be the hunkiest gardener waxing about the most sublime vegetable that has ever been caught on tape.
I put a list of everything I ordered for this year's garden below, just in case anyone actually reads this blog for useful information, which I'm not necessarily recommending. But if you're a "plunk-it and forget-it" kind of person like me, then most of the seeds should make you quite pleased. (I can not yet vouch for the cucamelon,). Of course the Grand Dame of my garden, the tomato, will not be planted from seed, so don't panic that you don't see it on the list. My lust for boxes full red ripe tomatoes will not be left to the capricious whim of nature. Let's not be silly...
Cucamelon
Chive Seeds
Cilantro Slow Bolt
Dill Dukat
Oregon Blue Lake Pole Bean
Scarlet Runner
Baltimore Carrot
Purple Haze Carrot
Neon Color Mix Chard
Fennel
Bak Choi-Mei Qing Choy
Cascadia Sugar Snap Pea
Jackpot Zucchini
Sunburst Scallop
Echinacea
Cosmos
Empress of India Nasturtium
Jewel Peach Melba Nasturtium
Italian Parsley
Moulin Rouge Sunflower
Supreme Mix Sunflower
California Giants Violet Queen Zinnia
The other day I was teaching my after school group of fourth graders, and said, "Okay everybody, type MobyMax into your search bar to find the math program we will be using today." Typing began, and slowly a head rolled up from the hunched body slumped nearest to me ( a seating placement that was no accident). Two shifty eyes peaked out from the side of his head, and he said, just loudly enough for his classmates to hear, and just quietly enough to feign genuine concern, "Why does my tablet say Moby...dick?" And then just a glimmer of a well-practiced smirk flashed across his face. He looked up at me oh-so-innocently while nine other students jerked their heads up anticipating what could only be a great show.
What they didn't know was that I'm a hardened veteran. " Oh, Moby DICK!" I exclaimed, loudly enough for the class next door to hear, "Moby DICK is a very famous book! You might get to read Moby DICK when you get to high school!" Eyes grew three times their normal size and then quickly dove back down to the tablets. Silent, on-task work prevailed for the rest of class because the last thing any of them wanted to hear was their teacher shouting that word again. Victory!
And here's where I get to planting seeds. What may not seem evident at first, is that while I was masterfully executing classroom management, I was also planting a seed. This disengaged pupil of mine may now have just a glimmer of hope that somewhere in his future, in the mystical land known as High School, he might get to read a whole book about dick, and not just any dick, but a Moby dick. And that my friends, might just get him to pay a little more attention in reading class tomorrow. Ahh...planting seeds.
Of course I don't just plant metaphorical seeds. I plant real ones too. What I love about seeds is that they are the cheapest and laziest way to get something to grow in your garden. I've tried starting seeds indoors so that I could put strong seedlings out in spring, but they always ended up meeting a cruel fate. They'd mold, they'd get straggly, or they'd get knocked over by curious children or an idiotic dog. So I've given up on that for now. I am now becoming an expert on seeds that can just be plunked directly into the dirt and left to do their thing.
To select seed, I find anything that was either developed at Oregon State to meet the fickle demands of an Oregon growing season, or an heirloom that was brought over from Russia, preferably Siberia. This is the same strategy I use for selecting tomato plants. If some babushka got a tomato to ripen in Siberia, and it was good enough for her to save the seed and try again, then it's good enough for me.
I buy my seeds from a seed catalog, which is to say that I go a little overboard. In a store, you see how many packets of seeds you have loaded up in your cart, and the reasonable part of your brain kicks in and tells you, "That's probably enough." You throw in three more packs and then you're done. With a seed catalog, there is no visual clue that you have outdone yourself, yet again. You start with an organized list of the things you need, then you get blissfully distracted by all of the amazing plants you never noticed before, and before you know it you have enough seed on your order form to supply a forty acre farm. Yet somehow it always comes to $50.00. See what I mean about cheap!
And every year there is always the darling, new plant that I can't live without, even though it probably does not pass the "plunk-it and forget-it" test, it's never even heard of Siberia and was most likely taken directly from somewhere on the Equator and placed in a seed packet for my torment. This year it's the cucamelon. I ordered it in December because I was afraid they would sell out. It is an absolutely adorable cucumber that looks exactly like a miniature watermelon. It is supposed to be intensely crunchy, with just a hint of lime. I'm in love. But I'm not alone. Check out the Sutton gardener video below. He might just be the hunkiest gardener waxing about the most sublime vegetable that has ever been caught on tape.
I put a list of everything I ordered for this year's garden below, just in case anyone actually reads this blog for useful information, which I'm not necessarily recommending. But if you're a "plunk-it and forget-it" kind of person like me, then most of the seeds should make you quite pleased. (I can not yet vouch for the cucamelon,). Of course the Grand Dame of my garden, the tomato, will not be planted from seed, so don't panic that you don't see it on the list. My lust for boxes full red ripe tomatoes will not be left to the capricious whim of nature. Let's not be silly...
Cucamelon
Chive Seeds
Cilantro Slow Bolt
Dill Dukat
Oregon Blue Lake Pole Bean
Scarlet Runner
Baltimore Carrot
Purple Haze Carrot
Neon Color Mix Chard
Fennel
Bak Choi-Mei Qing Choy
Cascadia Sugar Snap Pea
Jackpot Zucchini
Sunburst Scallop
Echinacea
Cosmos
Empress of India Nasturtium
Jewel Peach Melba Nasturtium
Italian Parsley
Moulin Rouge Sunflower
Supreme Mix Sunflower
California Giants Violet Queen Zinnia
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heather - what catalog do you order from? kathy :)
ReplyDeleteI ordered all of these from Nichols Garden Nursery in Albany. The cucamelons I ordered from Terrior Seed. I also just ordered raspberries and bare root strawberries from One Green World.
ReplyDelete