Germination brings hope
I sowed some ‘Sweet Chocolate’ pepper seeds a few weeks ago in the airing cupboard, because they need at least 25°C to germinate, and apparently you need to get them started early in the UK to get a long enough growing season. They’ve done better than I could possibly have hoped, as you can see above. It’s really the first time I’ve ever grown anything from seed, and I was watching them constantly for signs of life. When I saw the first tiny white shoots poking through the compost, I was really excited. Despite the fact that I’m a biologist, and in theory know how it works, I find it magical that you can bury a tiny, dead-looking seed in compost, water it, and eventually get a whole plant.
One of the things I hadn’t anticipated was how rewarding it is growing from seed, and how it gives you a deep feeling of hope that summer will eventually come. When it is cold, damp and foggy outside, I peer closely at those vivid green, fragile little shoots, and immediately think of the hot summer sun turning the fruits sweet and juicy.
It’s not an original observation, and sounds irritatingly hippyish and new-agey into the bargain, but growing from seed, harvesting and saving seed for the next year (which I also intend to do) does seem to help you to connect yourself to the future and the past. It helps you to see life as a cycle with things to enjoy and look forward to as they come around again, rather than a kind of Sisyphean unending toil.
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Oh, fantastic! I'll look forward to hearing how you do with these ones - they're ones that we've thought about several times, but figured the 25°C for germination etc. was a bundle of faff.
So we're going for ones that are simpler to grow, but still doing peppers, herbs, and probably some other stuff once the house-purchase goes through too.
by Lyle @ 18/02/2007 7:29 pm • Permalink •
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does seem to help you to connect yourself to the future and the past. It helps you to see life as a cycle with things to enjoy and look forward to as they come around again Yes!! Our society doesn't realise just how disconnected it has become. This is one of the two main reasons I think, with the other being that we're not out in all weathers - we're hiding away when the weather doesn't match our airconditioning.
by Martin @ 18/02/2007 9:04 pm • Permalink •
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Hi, I came here via a search for other vegetable/allotment bloggers. I find the whole process of seed germination amazing and very special. You're right when you say people have lost sight of the rhythm of life (strawberries at Chirstmas, I ask you!)
by angelfeet @ 18/02/2007 10:11 pm • Permalink •
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Once again I started to rant and gave up....
by Ian @ 19/02/2007 9:17 am • Permalink •
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Hmmm, I don't know why, but my sprouts always perish in 1-2 weeks after appearance... :(
by Kim @ 19/02/2007 5:06 pm • Permalink •
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Your observation is NOT hippyish and new-agey...it's a truth, and (for many, anyway) one of the main appeals of gardening.
Congrats on the successful germination!
by Inkygirl @ 19/02/2007 5:16 pm • Permalink •
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Dear lord, I can't believe I used the word "appeals" like that. I mean to say "appealing factors."
My only excuse: I haven't had my marmite and peanut butter on toast yet today.
Debbie
by Inkygirl @ 19/02/2007 5:17 pm • Permalink •
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Lyle: As far as I know (which isn't very far
) all peppers and chillies require fairly high germination temperatures. If you have an airing cupboard it's not too much of a faff. If you have a heated propagator, it's even easier, but we were too cheap and broke to buy one of those.
Martin: Or heating, in this country. Yes, it's all too easy to get disconnected.
angelfeet: I'll probably be posting about our successes and failures at intervals throughout the year.
Ian: Now my curiosity is aroused -- what was the rant? Can you do a précis?
Kim: Oh no! Don't say that, I'll get all worried about my little seedlings! Actually, the oldest ones have been above the soil for a couple of weeks, and they still look fairly healthy, so I'm still hopeful
. I'm sure that we will lose a few along the way, though.
Inkygirl: :-D. Can't beat all that salt for getting the neurons firing.
by bsag @ 19/02/2007 6:43 pm • Permalink •
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I'm curious whether I've made the correct observation that you've packed your seedlings in newspaper. How does that exactly work? (Having seen my mother use empty yoghurt pots for her tomato plants, I'm curious to know all about your ... err ... system.)
by Frances @ 22/02/2007 10:49 am • Permalink •
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Frances: Yes, they are sown into newspaper pots. We have a little gizmo called a 'Paper potter' which is a wooden cylinder (a bit like a dibber with the pointed end cut off) and a moulded wooden base. You wrap a strip of newspaper around the cylinder, folding the excess over the bottom, then press the cylinder into the base to press the base into shape. When you remove the cylinder, you've got a nice little pot. I like it because a) it's a free, unlimited supply of pots which recycles paper, and b) they are biodegradable, so you can just plant out the seedlings in the pot and let the pot rot away. This means that you don't need to disturb the delicate roots of the seedling.
by bsag @ 22/02/2007 8:43 pm • Permalink •
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