Tale of Five Seeds - The Planting

Back in January, I wrote about the five seeds I was going to plant this year as part of my participation in the Seed and Plant Sanctuary of Canada.

Last weekend I started four of the five varieties of seeds: French Sorrel, Echinacea, Parsley Giante D'Italia and Chinese Rhubarb. The fifth seed, Golden Rocky Beans, won't be planted until I actually start direct seeding the veggie garden itself. That will be about a month or so from now, maybe three weeks if I can get ready in time. I'm trying to be a bit more organized about my planting this year, although so far I'm not sure if I'm having much success!

Earlier this week Gord and I went to two gardening seminars, instructed by The Urban Farmer, Ron Berezan. The seminars were on Xeriscaping and Edible Forest Gardens, and both Gord and I came away from that with visions of an Eden-like garden on our property, with us meandering down paths and plucking fruit and veggies from here and there at will. Well, it will be some years before that happens, but with the help of Mr. Berezan, we at least know where to start!

This weekend we have managed to arrange for two whole days at home, so we will hopefully get a lot of things done around the yard, and some prep work done to the garden. I was a bit dismayed to see weeds growing in there already - they were at least easy to pull out, since the soil was so moist. The Urban Farmer recommends mulching all exposed soil to retain water and reduce weeds, so I will have to look into that more seriously this year.

Spring is certainly well on its way now, and with it comes both the excitement of a new growing season, and feeling a little bit daunted about all there is to do. But there is comfort too, in knowing that the soil, seeds and sun have done this every year since the dawn of time, and so maybe I don't need to worry or fret quite so much about getting things 'just right.'

Wishing everyone a wonderful weekend, with some time for tea and relaxation!