Have you ever grown a plant from seed? Â I do, all the time, and love the process. Followers of my blog know that I start almost all of my plants from seed. I use these great little seed boxes, handmade newspaper pots and some regular potting soil. Â It’s like the miracle of birth, taking some tiny little seeds (and I mean tiny), putting them in some dirt, and presto 10 days later a little green shoot pops up, and a year later is a hardy and healthy plant.
I’m always amazed that
#1 – this happens
#2 – I can do it (and you can too)
This year, the first year we have our home, I’m  begging a vegetable garden from seed.  Overall I’ve spent a grand total of $26.85, that’s only 1/4th of the average grocery bill for a week for a family of 4.  And I’ll have fresh veggies and herbs for the rest of the year.
I think my inital seed selection was influenced by Anthony Bourdain. Â I don’t know why I’d let such a pompous carnivore influence my decision, but I think it is because the night before I bought all my seeds, I watched his No Reservations TV show about Provance. Â I wanted to make handsome ratatouille, and while it’s easy to get the fresh vegetables needed year round at the local market, finding the provencial herbs can be a challenge, and quite expensive.
Of the 10 varieties I started, 6 are herbs:
Sweet Basil – Ocimum basilicum – 7-14 days to germination
Lavender -Â Lavendula angustifolia – 14-28 days to germination
Thyme -Â Thymus – 14-21 days to germination
Rosemary -Â Rosmarinus officinalis – 14-21 days to germination
Oregano -Â Origanum vulgare – 10-21 days to germination
English Thyme -Â Thymus vulgaris – 7-14 days to germination
I also put in a few veggies, too
Zucchini -Â Cucurbita pepo -5-10 days to germination
Roma Tomato -Â Tomate Roma- 7-10 days to germination
Fennel -Â Foeniculum vulgare – 10-14 days to germination
Arugula -Â Eruca vasicaria var. sativa – 3-7 days to germination
I hope you didn’t think I’d do a post without any photos, because I actually started 4 of these plants a couple of weeks ago – can you tell which ones?
Obviously this is some kind of squash - do you know which one?
Sprouting seed, you can see the seed casing at the top
Of course I didn’t use all the seeds in the little paper packages. How will I store the extra plant seeds? Simple. I simply taped up the packet, so none of the little guys would escape, and then put them all into a ziploc bag with a desiccant in the back of my fridge. Why a desiccant? What is a desiccant? It’s one of those little packets of silica gel that comes packaged with your electronics that says “do not eat”. Â A desiccant absorbs moisture, and is a really good way to keep seeds dry and preserved.
What have you had luck growing in your vegetable garden? I’d love to hear your success (and failure) stories, and extra points if you live in Central Texas and comment.
wow!
Mr. Gardener! Congratulations!
we have no space at our little apartment but I’d love to grow a few of them!!!!
PS: we’ll be in Dallas in a couple of weeks…Texas here we go!!!!
Hello,
I have not grown a whole lot from seed, but am working on growing my vegetable garden from seed. So far, I have basil, oregano, sunflower, watermelon, cucumber and corn that have sprouted. I am very hopeful so far
Good for you! I just don’t have the room or the patience for growing most things from seed. Well, indoors at least. I’m perfectly content (and yes astonished that it actually works) to grow things by direct sowing, but for things like herbs and tomatoes, I find it’s just better off all around for me to start with plants.
Love the idea of a ratatouille garden though! Sounds delicious!
For me, it really helps to have an end goal of something – like being able to make pesto from scratch. In my next go around, I’ll put in some garlic, to go with the basil.
Enjoyed your post and your blog. I will be back. Thanks for the visit!
I just ordered some Loofah seeds and I was wondering how to start them out. This is a great post, thanks!
Very exciting! From seed, I’ve had far better luck growing the fall/winter vegetables (chard, kale, broccoli, cauliflower, lettuces, beets, carrots) over spring/summer ones. I usually just end up buying starter tomato and pepper plants. That said, most of the herbs are easy from seed. Remember that rosemary isn’t crazy about too much water. Good luck!
I have been waiting for Spring since we bought our 1st home this past December so I can grow my first vegetable garden! Your posts are going to be SO helpful!!
Sounds like you have all the right ingredients for several Italian dishes, like pasta primavera or homemade tomato sauce! I’ve been meaning for a couple weeks now to get some pots filled with soil and get my herbs out into the yard but haven’t found the time yet.
Hey Eric! You’re blog is great & I’m glad you were able to find mine too!
My hubby just started a vegetable (and fruit) garden. I’m anxiously awaiting some blackberries and strawberries this year! Thanks for the tips!
Eric,
I was looking for information on Roma tomatoes and found your blog. I’m excited to find another vegetable grower in the (fairly) near area. I’m up in Plano. I think you have a little better soil than our black gumbo. I am working with raised beds and heavily amended soil that I made from a combination of free fill dirt off of Freecycle, free horse manure from a friend here in town, and bagged organic mix from Walmart.
So far I have Blue Lake Bush beans up, Rhubarb Swiss Chard up, and Vivian Lettuce up. I am waiting on Poblano Peppers and Spinach. I planted them all in little ‘ghetto greenhouses,’ which you can see at my blog. Everything is doing pretty well. I collected Roma tomato seeds which I have had drying for the past week, and will be planting those this weekend. I’ll let you know if they sprout!
I appreciated your list of herbs. I’ve been wondering what herbs might do well here, other than Rosemary.