Every Seed Accounted For

A PARABLE:

Listen! A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it. Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and immediately it sprang up, since it had no depth of soil.  And when the sun rose, it was scorched, and since it had no root, it withered away.  Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain.  And other seeds fell into good soil and produced grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.

This parable always comes to mind when I think of farming. I envision a farmer tossing his seeds every which way in hopes that MOST of what he sows finds good soil...but in my short experience, I have quickly found this not to be the case here... Every seed is carefully placed and accounted for. Thousands upon thousands of seeds are individually handled, planted, labeled, color coded, tended to, spotted (will explain), transplanted, covered, picked over until and even after it bears fruit. This is definitely a labor of love here. I am fascinated and in awe! Let me go into a bit more detail....
In the short 3 hours that I have worked in the greenhouse, the 3 of us have planted 600 individual lettuce seeds, each in its own "pod". The soil is carefully blended to get just the right moisture and consistency, the seed is dutifully placed just a thumb print's depth into the soil and then soil is sprinkled on top. The pods are then stacked and placed in the "germination closet" for 7 days or until the first sign of life pops out of the ground (called  “knuckles” around here...aptly named). The germination closet, much to my surprise, has no light. Just a source of heat to keep the plants just above 70 degrees F. No light is needed until you see green. Interesting! 

We also “spotted” 1000 kale seedlings. The kale had been planted about 3-4 weeks earlier not in individual pods, but heavily seeded in open flats. This saves space in the germination closet (just a couple flats vs 1000 pods) and in the greenhouse (early in the season only part of the greenhouse is sectioned off and heated to save electricity).  Once the seedlings show their “true” leaves, 1000 of the healthiest plants are chosen to be transplanted in individual pots, watered and placed back in the greenhouse until time to put in the ground. This is called “spotting” or “pricking”.

So far, I am finding that the key to successful organic gardening is nurture. Pesticides and herbicides are not used and the only defense the plant has is its immune system. Individual plants are strategically cared for and strengthened before being placed in the garden. And once in the garden they are protected by “row cover” until flowering (about 2 to 3 weeks) to keep the pests out and the moisture in. The healthier plants are then able to ward off insects and disease. I can’t wait to see this in action! 

More to come next week…