Friday, March 13, 2009

Seeds! Seeds!!

It is the full moon in the Seed moon and I can't think of a better time to start planting the garden! Well, OK, it is mostly planning right now but it will soon be time to sow. I am so excited about my garden this year. Growing food is such a primal urge and touches on so many aspects of my spirituality. I love watching plants grow and change and love even more making and eating food that I tended from seed to plate. I have not been settled enough the last few years to make gardening a priority but this year I am!

I going to be planting two different garden plots this year, one in my parents' yard and one in my little yard. I have been focusing on the plot at my parents' house because it needs the most work and is where I intend to grow my early season crops. Last winter I bought Mel Bartholomew's Square Foot Gardening and have been reading it cover to cover for months. The idea of his gardening method is to use his garden mix so you don't have to ammend native soil, and plant in squares instead of rows to reduce space and keep the harvest manageable. Sounds perfect to me!

I've been planning and replanning my square foot garden at my folks' house all these last two weeks. It's 4' x 6' and I will be planting peas, lettuce, bok choy, swiss chard, onions, radishes and maybe some kale or broccolli this spring. I can't wait! I did put some pea seeds in last weekend but we've been having snow and hard frost followed by 60 degree days, so I'm not expecting much germination out of these ones. I'll plant some more next week and hope Mother Nature gives them a little more help with the weather.

I believe that planting and growing food is an important activity for all people to engage in. Even if it is sprouts in a jar, herbs on the windowsill or a tomato in a pot it is vital for us to be connected with the growth of the food we eat. In the Celestine Prophecy, a parable novel written by James Redfield, food grown with the aid of spritual energy is more nutritious than food grown in more traditional ways. I think at some levels this is a universal truth - the energy, love and attention that is put into food plants comes back to those who eat the food. Whether a home grown tomato has more vitamin A than a storebought one is almost irrelevant (though in many cases it is true) because a home grown tomatoe has more love to share. It has more chi, it has more God in it. And we can all use some more of that.

What are you planting this spring?

1 comment:

icedteaforme said...

I am doing more containers than raised bed, but will have one late raised bed for corn, melons, pumpkins, onions, potatoes and spinach....but in containers I have planned tomatoes, yellow squash, carrots, beets, lettuce, peas and berries....I am seed starting and have seedlings, makes me so happy to see them grow, with our short growing season, voles, dogs, birds and bears most will live indoors with us until about July! I seed saved for tomatoes, melons, pumpkins, squash and bought the rest!