Plants Know

These days we are focused on the Seedlings we are starting from Seed and tending as Seedlings. If all goes well, these young Plants will be our transplants in the Garden.

We are carefully checking our notes from the past few Gardening Seasons. When do we plant? Which varieties should we plant? And how many should we shoot for?

We note the optimal days for planting according to our Biodynamic Calendar. This day (Wednesday, March 9) was a Fruit Day, so Melanie was planting Peppers after consultation a 3 way consultation between us in regard to what we would most need.

We make sure the Seeds and Seedlings are watered with Rain Water we have gathered from the Downspouts off the Roof of the House. It's too early to put the Rain Barrel out, as we still are having freezes. So Richard puts 5 gallon Buckets out under the south Downspout, before a Rain, when we are having a Snow Melt, and even sometimes after a heavy Frost. At any given time, we may have as many as 5-5 gallon buckets in the House.

Those Plants know the difference between Rain Water and City Water. City Water, with all of its chemicals and processing, just doesn't do it for them. The Plants seem to luxiurate in Rain Water. Now that's the kind of start we want for them.

Lately, we seem to have had a lot of Gray Days. It has been overcast and cold. We put our Seedlings in the South Windows of the House where they usually do quite well. However, in these low light conditions, they just have kind of sat there. Some have even "dampened off". That happened with the Pansies and some of the Leeks.

The relationship of Plants to Sunlight kind of reminds me of the Humans. We Humans don't seem too active without Sunlight either. Maybe we aren't so different after all.

We check the Seedlings 3 to 4 times a day. We want to make sure they have adequate Water and growing conditions. We usually turn the Flats 180 degrees to make sure all the Seedlings are getting an even amount of Sunlight and that they grow relatively straight up. We also run our hands across them very gently.

Some Wise Person once told us that Plants like that. We also are known to talk to them. We tell them we are grateful they are here. We talk about how strong and vigorous they are. Some days, if we listen quietly, we might just be hearing their voices in return. They are eager for the upcoming growing season. We are too. They are our partners in this little bit of Paradise.

The whole situation reminds me about how most Parents are proud of their Children. They talk about how tall they have grown, what they have done, and what they know. I suppose that situation applies to us too.