With all the snow swirling around in the freezing temperatures, my thoughts are turning toward spring for some warmth. Spring is my absolute favorite season, because the ground wakes from it’s winter slumber underneath blankets of snow and ice and comes to life! Green growing things are such a welcome sight to weary eyes; especially after a long winter, not to mention a year of COVID-19.
On to Gardening
This year I am going to try to grow something other than the grass and weeds that came with my yard. My hopes are to have a pollinator garden-native wildflowers and vegetables! My plans are big, but realistic (I hope–time will tell!). Spring gardening here we come!
The first step to planning a garden is being honest about the types of vegetables you and you family will actually EAT. No point in growing something ya’ll don’t like. Truly, it’s a waste of precious garden space. However, I’m not saying you shouldn’t try something new. New things are great, you may even find a new favorite. What I am saying is this–try planting just a few. And be prepared to eat it! Try it fresh, but have a few recipes on hand.
Unique plants to intrigue kids: Lemon cucumbers, cucamelon, dragons tongue beans, rainbow carrots, sun gold cherry tomatoes, kohlrabi, asparagus, bright lights swiss chard, fancy radishes(watermelon, french breakfast), golden beets, candy stripe.
—-Vegetables my family eats—-
- cucumbers
- asparagus
- tomatoes
- potatoes
- lettuce
- kale
- carrots
- zucchini
- pole beans
- bush beans
- peas
- bell peppers
- jalapenos
- radishes
- swiss chard
- beets
- spinach
- lavender
- applemint
- basil
- sage
- garlic chives
- onion chives
- parsley
- dill
- celery
- thyme
And so I have my list (note that some of these are herbs. I love basil, but every time I buy it at the farmers market it is sold in 2 ounce bags. That’s a lot for me to use in a week! I’d much rather have my own plant and just cut off what I need).
What to put the plants in…
Next, I am going to categorize my plants into the type of pot/planter/raised bed that they require. I am also going to make notes on if they will need a trellis(for viney tendrils) or supports(to help support the fruits).
- deep pots(standard porch pot): peppers, tomatoes, asparagus, cucumbers, zucchini, celery
- indiscriminate(can tolerate shallow pots but isn’t fussy): lettuce, kale, bush beans, peas, pole beans, swiss chard, herbs
- deep raised bed(2ft): carrots, radishes(watermelon, standard), beets
- yard space and straw: potatoes
- trellis: cucumbers, peas, pole beans
- supports: tomatoes, bell peppers
The way I think of what plants will require which pot type is: what will its root structure look like? If it is deep rooted like the carrots and beets you will want a raised bed, if it is shallow rooted then it won’t be terribly fussy. Use what you have to make pots! It should be noted that you will need: drainage holes in all “pots” and to make sure to give them adequate water during the growing season! Raised beds and porch pots tend to dry out quickly. Adding a moisture barrier is also a good idea. More on that later.
A head start for your plants
This year I am going to try two things for my spring garden. One, I am going to start some the plants ahead of season, say middle of next month? And two, I am saving all my one gallon jugs to create little green houses over my plants once I do transplant them out side. If you live in Michigan I recommend being prepared to protect your precious plants from the late frost. Putting an old sheet over them works, wallowaters do too.
Good plants to start indoors: Tomatoes, peppers, zucchini, cucumbers, lettuce, herbs
Plants I’m going to attempt to start indoors: swiss chard, spinach, celery
If you start them ahead too far they will get leggy and spindally and despite all your hard work-not amount to much. So check out your last frost date https://www.almanac.com/gardening/frostdates# and talk to fellow gardeners! Locals know their stuff, especially the ones who rely on their garden to make a living.
Good plants for direct sowing: peas, beans, carrots, beets, radishes, potatoes
Sprouts—Fresh Stuff!
While you are daydreaming your garden plans into shape and deciding what to grow; here is a way to get some fresh stuff that grows quickly onto your table. Sprouts! They are so so so simple! For the most part, I’ll be honest I have had some failures. BUT you get to learn from my mistakes! How great is that?
Supplies
- Mason jar
- small strainer
- rubber band
- one clean old t-shirt(cut into 5 inch squares)
- small dish
- running water
- sprout seeds
Sprout Seeds
I have my favorites; but there are more options out there. But this is what I grow regularly:
- alfalfa
- china rose radish
- daiykon radish
For my husband and I to eat on them for about a week I use– 1 t alfalfa, 1/4 t china rose radish, 1/4 t daiykon radish. It creates about two dense cups of sprouts.
Other sprouts I like to grow, or rather I TRY to grow. I have not perfected my method yet. But I am getting closer!
- sunflowers
- buckwheat
- kale
- mung beans
- peas
I ordered all my sprout seeds from Johnny’s. I choose organic and heirloom when possible, personal preference. https://www.johnnyseeds.com/
Sunflower sprouts 
How to grow sprouts
Place the seeds into the mason jar, fill with room temp water let soak overnight, about 8-10 hours with the t-shirt square on.
Rinse them with fresh water in the morning by filling the jar to the top will cool water, using a small strainer to keep the seeds in the jar. Next soak the T-shirt square and moderately squeeze dry. Put back on with the rubber band. You want this to be taut, so you can flick it to gently knock the seeds off before removing it for the next rinse.
Place in the shallow dish on an angle so the excess water flows out. If there is standing water in the dish after a few minutes, empty it. If you leave the jar in standing water you risk some of the seeds not germinating and mold growing.
My house has very low humidity (its quite shocking to my husband and I, literally. The static zaps are terrible) as a result I make sure to rinse my sprouts twice a day or they shrivel up and die. Also it is a good way to prevent mold from taking hold. I did a little experiment and the sunflower sprouts I didn’t rinse twice a day, consequently they had some freeloaders in the jar growing with them. NOT good to eat, unfortunately for me, fortunate for the squirrels. They enjoyed them immensely.
The alfalfa/radish mix sprouts are ready to eat after 10 days(on average), I grow them until their seed leaves are fleshed out but before the true leaves start. If you decide to eat them sooner it won’t make a huge difference. To ensure I have enough sprouts growing to keep us in the green, I start new ones every week(Wednesday is sprout day at my house!). The other sprouts take longer to grow, two weeks or so. Nibble away and let them keep growing until you are pleased with the taste/color. Just make a note of how many days you chose to let them grow.
They are ready to eat, what now?
How we eat them–sprinkled over an egg, on top a sandwich, in an omelet, as a snack plain, with hummus on a chip(dip the chip in hummus then in a small bowl of sprouts), on top of avocado toast, added to soup at last minute. It’s a great way to get green stuff into your meals with out having to eat salad. Don’t get me wrong, salad is good and good for you BUT I realistically cannot make myself eat it every day. I’m a healthy gal, but not a salad every day kinda gal.
Fun fact- very first batch I grew I did two silly things. First I put a lot of radish in compared to what I do now, second I thought the mix would look nicer if it was greener. So I put it by my grow light, for those of you who don’t know the heat of the radish is a direct correlation with the intensity of the light it is exposed to. My grow light is the equivalent of intense summer sunlight. I consequently left my sprouts near it long enough that the radish sprouts were so hot when I tried them, my tongue went NUMB. Granted I was eating them plain.
Make it fun for the Little Stewards
Watching sprouts grow is a fun adventure! Some plants are quick to germinate and others take their time. You can grow them as part of a science lesson in your classroom or in your kitchen.
Examples of fun things to look for and conversations to have—
- what part of the plant emerges first
- how much energy does the plant have stored (compare different kinds of seeds)
- compare plant germination to mammal gestation
- flavor, what nutrients and vitamins plants contain
- what grow zone are you in(pull up a map and help them navigate to your location)
- study different plants and compare how many days to harvest
- when would you want to plant it to ensure it has time to grow in your zone
- what happens when it doesn’t get enough water (oops, bound to happen sooner or later)
- grow two jars and place one by a window to get some light and keep the other out of the light(photosynthesis!)
- plant respiration, how much oxygen a tree produces( avg. 100ft tree produces 6,000 lbs of oxygen) how much oxygen does one person use in a day(about 1,213lbs)
- this discussion would be a great time to talk about how important trees are! Maybe take it a step further and talk about deforestation and what you can do
Lessons for Big Stewards
Gardening is a big step to take; therefore, please, please don’t give up if it doesn’t work the way you imagined it the first year. You didn’t fail, you just found a few ways that didn’t work.
No two gardens are alike-
- soil
- nutrients
- rainfall
- pests
- sunlight
Even the amount of time we can devote to caring for it are all different. For example, my Mom is retired from her first job and by default her garden is going to get a lot more TLC than mine is this spring and summer (I work full time and this blog is my dream, I am working hard to make a reality). Thus, please don’t compare your garden to someone else. Certainly ask for advice and consider different ways to do things, but don’t write off your garden as a failure.
If your garden isn’t producing enough to fill the table the next best place to shop is your local farmers market. https://www.localharvest.org/search.jsp?jmp&scale=7&lat=45.0767&lon=-83.4556&ty=1
How Gardening is being a good Steward
Gardening allows you to know exactly where your food came from, and what has been applied to it (think pesticides, chemical fertilizers ect.) and furthermore it will help your Little Stewards understand the growing process. There’s unfortunate amount of children who think their produce comes from the store, who gets it from a truck.
When you understand what foods are ready in season around you, then you can take advantage of that and stock up on the home grown, healthy, bursting with flavor foods near you. In addition to what is available at the markets around you, there is what is growing naturally. Don’t have space for a raspberry patch? Then search your nearby natural areas, state game areas, state parks. There is a natural bounty waiting for you. However, please make sure you can CORRECTLY ID the plants before you eat it or feed it to your family. I promise to make a few posts on foraging for nature’s bounty in the coming months.
