Spring Seedlings

Happy Spring!

Seeds are sprouting here ...

tiny lettuces in a blue bowl-

Sugar snap peas ...

Sweet peas, Nigella, and  more salad mix ...

Why the chicken wire?  

It seems I'm not the only one who has a fondness for container gardening.

There's Sadie the cat, who finds bowls and pots of soil an irresistible place to nap (she has 2 other of her kind who are likewise inclined) ...

Also Sweet Annie the dog, who loves digging in my gardens and pots and also has an odd fondness for eating green things.

And then there is the four year old who is as least as, if not more, destructive as the animals ... though she really believes she is 'helping' ...

Gardening is never simple here, try as I may.  Someday perhaps.


But here is a simple to grow plant that is one of my favorites- dianthus

Fortunately for me, Annie doesn't seem particularly interested in these first blossoms of the season.  

What's blooming in your world these days?

Seedtime

Dreaming of spring on a wintry March morning
Coffee in my cup
Seed catalogs stacked
Pen and paper ready

Perfect way to spend a cold Saturday morning

“Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant.”  Robert Louis Stevenson

Favorite Garden Catalogs:
Seed Savers
Seeds of Change
Bountiful Gardens
Botanical Interests

 Do you have a favorite seed/garden catalog to add to my list?  Please share it if you do!


While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.  Genesis 8:22



Weekend Blessings,
Catherine

Easter Wishes

May the Joy of Easter fill your heart and home with good things this weekend! 

Today I'm baking Hot Cross Buns (just as soon as I locate the recipe in my Recipe Pile) and planting seeds.  We have a family tradition of planting something- a tree, flowers, seeds, on Easter weekend to celebrate the gift of Life.  I'm planting seeds for hyssop this year. 
What are your Easter traditions?  Whatever they are, I pray you have a blessed holiday! 



(Beautiful Easter graphic can be found at Vintage Catnip)

Just a small seed

Seeds sprouting ... oh the joys of springtime!

Think small. Planting tiny seeds in the small space given you can change the whole world or, at the very least, your view of it. - Linus Mundy

Seed Sowing

"Though I do not believe that a plant will spring up where no seed has been, I have great faith in a seed. Convince me that you have a seed there, and I am prepared to expect wonders." ~ Henry David Thoreau

There is a sense of wonder in a seed, isn’t there?  What an infinite variety of beautiful and useful plants begin with just a tiny seed.

I love to plant seeds.  It is such an act of hope, putting that little storehouse into the soil, then watering, waiting, and watching for signs of life.

Spring is the time many of us are sowing seeds in the garden and waiting impatiently for those first sprigs of green. 

Many herbs grow easily from seed, such as- basil, borage, chives, cilantro and dill.  In fact, most of these grow so well from seed they will quite freely self-sow all over your garden if you aren't careful!  Though that is more blessing than curse in my eyes.  An out of place seedling can be moved to a better home or potted up and given to a friend if it can't be left where it is growing.  Part of the fun of gardening is the element of surprise that nature always seems to possess. 


What herbs do you grow from seed? 

Herb Quote for the Day

How could such sweet and wholesome hours
Be reckoned but with herbs and flowers?-  Andrew Marvel

The perfect quote for this season of dreaming of all the glorious herbs and flowers I want to order ... seed and herb catalogs can be dangerous things!  I'm checking the still room herb shelves and making a list of what I need for the coming year, and then perusing the Mountain Rose Herbs catalog ... so many wonderful herbs to choose from. 

What are your "must have" herbs? 

Sowing Seeds

 

Passionflower blooming in the community garden

 

 

Now that the summer harvest is over and we are moving into a new season, I am thinking about seeds ... sowing veggie, herb, and flower seeds in the garden in expectation of a harvest in the coming days.

 

Today I tucked a few seeds into the garden-

cucumber

zucchini

yellow squash

white scallop squash

 

Tomorrow I hope to plant more in pots for transplanting a bit later-

chard

kale

lettuce

 

I expect to harvest some tasty vegetables in the coming days.

 

 

Though I do not believe that a plant will spring up where no seed has been, I have great faith in a seed. Convince me that you have a seed there, and I am prepared to expect wonders.
- Henry David Thoreau

 

 

 

I'm also thinking about the other seeds I plant each day- in word, thought, or deed. 

Am I planting good things- hope, kindness, joy, love?

 

Or am I sowing seeds that will be like the bindweed I do daily battle with in the garden, a weed that will wrap itself around the good plants and slowly choke the life right out of them if it isn't dealt with quickly?  For I will reap what I sow. 

 

 

My oldest daughter, who spent the last weeks of summer vacation on crutches, taking time to read a book to her little cousin.  Good seeds being sown, and also a wonderful harvest after the many, many hours I've spent reading to her over the years.  Now she asks to be the reader during read aloud time each day and is seldom seen without a book.  These past few weeks I've heard so often, "Please get my book, I can't carry it with these crutches."  Thankfully, the crutches won't be needed much longer, her wounded ankle is healing nicely, and she'll soon be able to swim and dance and do all those things she's been missing so much of late; but she will still take time to share a good book with the little ones. 

Sow good seeds in abundance!

 

Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap, but by the seeds you plant.

- Robert Louis Stevenson

 

 

 

 

 

Giveaway Winner

The winner of the Earth Day Seed Share is ...

Michelle!

Michelle said...



Hello Catherine,


I found your blog through 5 Orange Potatoes and it looks great! I'd love to be entered into your seed giveaway. I've just built some raised beds to start a new garden after several sad years without one. A little assortment would be perfect for me right now!


Michelle, please email me at lovelivingsimply at gmail dot com with your mailing address and I will send your little assortment of seeds to you!

Thanks to those of you who entered my little impromptu giveaway.  Stay tuned, another giveaway is coming soon!

Earth Day Seed Share

I've been thinking I should do a giveaway here at Love Living Simply, and Earth Day seems like the perfect day for it. 

I've got lots of seeds in my seed box, I mean lots of seeds!  Not that having so many is a bad thing, but sharing my blessings with others makes me happy.

I purchased most of my seeds from favorite seed companies such as Botanical Interests, Bountiful Gardens, Seed Savers Exchange, etc.  I'm a goner when I see all those gorgeous seed catalogs arrive, and want to order almost everything in sight.  Some seeds have been gifted to me by sweet friends who know my fondness for all things green and growing.  And some I have saved from my gardens or brought home from a walk or wander.  

Sometime Saturday I'll draw a name from those who leave a comment on this post, and I'll send you a little assortment of seeds to plant.  I'll put in a bit of this and that to make things interesting.  I promise not to send anything invasive ... (Anne, no birdhouse gourds OK?!).

Those of you who keep telling me you have brown or black thumbs, now is your chance to try again.  I promise, if you'll just keep planting things, those thumbs will turn greener and greener.  A few dead plants just means more compost.  I still kill plants ... my very first raspberry vine was my most recent victim (a very sad occurence, too).  But, there will be more raspberries next year and I'll do a better job of getting that little thing planted right away. 

OK, so leave a comment, tell your friends to drop by and enter the  Earth Day Seed Share, and have a Happy Earth Day! 

Seed Sowing and the Colors of Spring

... pink and green, my favorites!
 
Sage, Thyme, Dianthus, and Zinnias from years past, also some of my favorites. 

I'll be growing them all again this season and next, and the next...

I plant sage because it grows like crazy, is pretty, useful for hair rinses and essential for holiday cornbread dressing.

I plant thyme because it is simply lovely and so handy in the kitchen.

Dianthus is planted because it makes me happy with such cheerful flowers.

And I must plant zinnias because they remind me of Grandma who grew zinnias in her flower gardens every year without fail, a tradition I gladly carry on.

What do you plant season after season?

Why?

I'm planting seeds indoors today, and pondering this post about sowing seeds of an entirely different, though more weighty, kind. 

What have I sown that I, or those I love, will someday reap?

What do I plan to sow in the days to come?

How do I tend those seeds that are just beginning to sprout to insure they reach maturity and produce the desired harvest?

How about you?

Many questions today ... I'm sure it is Spring Fever!

Wish Books

My favorite "wish books" are those gorgeous seed catalogs that start appearing in my mail box about now.
Oh how many hours I can spend reading the descriptions of all the beautiful and delicious things there are to grow!

I dream big and always start with way more than I have space, time, or energy to grow on the first draft of my To Grow List. Slowly, reality sinks in and I have to pare down that endless garden list to what I can realistically maintain, but it is fun to dream!

I always include at least one or two new things to try each year. That's part of the adventure of gardening, and if it doesn't work out so well ... there's always next season! I hope to plant at least one or two kinds of fruit trees in containers this year as my "new venture". Deciding what to grow isn't going to be easy ... bananas, I think, and maybe plums ... figs ... peaches ... ???

I usually have at least part of my seed order placed by now, but our recent move has thrown everything a bit out of whack. In all honesty, I don't even know where I'm going to garden this year. Our backyard will require much trimming of trees and bushes and a lot of soil improvement before anything will thrive there. I'm not sure my landlord will be impressed if I dig up the front yard to plant my garden...especially since we haven't committed to dwelling in this place long-term (it isn't as close to our ministry area as we would like). We have plans for a community garden ministry but as of yet, no lot to garden on (though we are confident that the Lord will provide one for us) .... Lots of questions, no concrete answers as of yet; but this I do know, I WILL HAVE A GARDEN "SOMEWHERE"! Ideally, a family garden and a ministry garden (or 2 or 3)!

If you have a garden, please remember to plant an extra row or two for those who aren't fortunate enough to have a garden of their own. Share the harvest, share your extra seeds or seedlings, teach someone the joy of growing their own food!


And since I started this ramble about my wish books, here are a few of my favorite seed catalogs:


Seed Savers Exchange
Seeds of Change
Pinetree Garden Seeds
Horizon Herbs
Renee's Garden
Botanical Interests

Where do you order seeds from? If you have a favorite seed company, please share ... I can always use another wish book!