Starting seeds that require stratification

I got another gift of plants for my birthday this winter and decided to spread the love thinner (more plants for less money) by buying seeds. I have several beds that receive part sun that need more plants and every spring I'm disappointed that I didn't start more native plants in winter. Most native plants need to go through stratification in order to break dormancy, so they demand you plan ahead. This cold and moist period usually ranges from 30-60 days, but can be more. All of the seeds I purchased were in this range. What does this look like? I'm going to walk you through what I've done today.
First, I want to introduce you to Prairie Moon Nursery- my favorite source for native seeds and plants. One of the most wonderful things about this catalog, aside from the large diversity of seeds, is how informative it is. Here is this year's catalog.

I ordered 24 species of native plants and they sent me 1 Free packet of Common Milkweed, which is great because I don't have this growing AND I understand the Monarch butterfly population has declined upwards of 80% in the Midwest due to some not-to-be-named genetically modified agricultural crops. How horrible!

I want more Milkweed and Asters because they provide both larval and adult food. 

Here is my seed list

Textile Onion     Pussytoes     Poke Milkweed     Tall Green Milkweed     Oval-leaf Milkweed     

Prairie Milkweed     Whorled Milkweed     Spider Milkweed     Arrow-leaved Aster     Silky Aster

Short's Aster     Hairy Wood Mint     Cream Gentian     Stiff Gentian     False Meadow Rue 

Button Blazing Star     Dotted Blazing Star     Northern Blazing Star     Pale Spiked Lobelia     

Bradbury's Monarda     Wild Blue Phlox     Old Field Goldenrod     Purple Meadow Rue

Northern Dropseed

Each packet varies in the number of seeds contained, but all are $2.00 each, which is really cheap for rarer plants. On the back it tells you the approximate number of seeds. They look like this:

Some are additionally packaged in little cellophane or plastic baggies like Northern Dropseed here:

How I stratify seeds
1. Label all of your bags with the name of the contents. I wrote both the abbreviated scientific name and common name, today's date and the number of days the seed needs to be in the fridge (30 or 60). I sorted the bags into 2 piles so that I could easily pull out the 30 day bags first.

2. To each bag add a little sand. I think this is builder's sand. It was what we had on hand. I don't think the kind matters. I have also used vermiculite, which works fine too.
3. Empty the contents of the seed packet into the corresponding bag and give it a shake.
4. I added 2 teaspoons of water to each bag. You want it moist, but NEVER wet so the seed doesn't mold. Push the air out and seal it up. A ready bag looks like this:

Asclepias hirtella is Tall Green Milkweed

30 = number of days in fridge

5. I put all of the baggies in a used cereal box and plopped it in the veggie crisper of the fridge. Mark your calendar so after 30 days you can take out the first set of baggies to begin starting them. I'll update what to do when they come out of the fridge on a later post.

Seeds in the box and ready for the fridge.

Let me show you an example page of how informative this catalog is. I use these tables to help pick out what I wanted to grow. I started by focusing on what could grow in either "Woodland" or "Savanna"

This catalog gives you the scientific name, a common name, the germination code so you don't have to figure out for yourself, amount of sun, amount of moisture required, flower time, color of flower, height, wetland codes, and more- like whether their is a picture in the catalog, what wildlife likes it, if it is good for landscaping or aggressive, etc. It is loaded with useful info. 

I hope this helps someone. Also know that they sell bareroot plants if you don't want to start with seeds. They also have trees, shrubs, vines, other grasses, ferns, etc. 

Happy Winter Gardening!

Seeds and Progress Reports

I placed several seed orders yesterday. The first order was through Baker's Creek Heirloom Seeds which was mainly my tomato order (thanks for the holiday present parents!). The second order was through Prairie Moon Nursery- a native seed & plant company (thanks for the birthday present hubby!). I'm hoping to expand my native plant population and I have some newer beds that need some part-shade plants. Since most native seeds need to go through stratification (a 30+ day cold/moist period) in order to break dormancy I need to get those in the fridge as soon as possible, since it doesn't look like I can rely on these "winter" conditions to take care of this process. And lastly, I made a plant and seed order through Select Seeds, which focuses on heirloom flowering plants. I will post my seed lists as they arrive. So, what to do with all of these seeds? I thought I'd share how I organize them. I've done many things, but this method just seems to work for me.

Chuy demonstrating my madness.

As you can see I have lots of seeds already. They are organized into 3 boxes: box 1 labeled Spring Seeds. Box 1 includes seeds to be planted in fall as well or seeds that need to be stratified or perennials that need to be started early and of course the usual spring/fall crops- peas, kale, spinach, lettuces, onions, etc.

Box 2 is Flowers and Herbs. Within this box I have dividers made of cardboard or index cards that separates annuals, perennials, vining flowers and herbs.  Box 3 is Summer Veggies with seeds categorized by likeness- all varieties of beans together for example. 

These boxes work well for seed packets, but each year I collect more and more of my own seeds in various containers so the boxes get a little less organized each year. 

Starting Seeds

I've begun starting seeds for the season. I'm trying something new this year. While I've always purchased a soilless mix to start in I've decided to try and start my garden seeds in free compost this year. My chickens make amazing compost. The only initial downside I've observed so far is that there are some seeds germinating that are of unknown origin. So- I will be getting some surprises in with what the labels indicate. 

tofu tubs make good starter containers

Started: leeks, parsley, wild ageratum, wild hydrangea, tronchuda cabbage, perpetual spinach, dinosaur kale, Skippy violas, White Hollhocks.

Chilling under the windowwell cold-frame: McKana Giant Columbines, Swamp & Butterfly Milkweed and Reugen & Soul (white) Alpine Strawberries. 

Seed Thievery 

There's an old house along the main street in town with wonderful hollyhocks. One holly crossed the road and planted itself in the rocks at the ice cream parlor. I admired the tall white holly all summer. When the store was nearing closure for the winter we went in for an ice cream and I stole seeds from that plant- gently wrapping them up in my napkin and forgetting about them in my car. A couple of weeks ago I rescued them from my car, soaked them overnight and plopped them in some compost and here we go. It will be interesting to see if they all bloom white or if they were able to cross-pollinate with the hollys across the street.

Hollyhock babies.

Progress Reports

#1: Window Farm. While it was fun I'm not overly impressed with the garden tower in the kitchen. This project was my version of the hydroponically-based "window farms" you can find directions for online. They are in an east window but are still generally lanky and not very productive. You just can't beat growing things outside. Imagine that? 

Top tier: spinach seedlings. Middle: parsley. Bottom: spinach transplants.

#2: Overwintering Marine Heliotrope- very successful and it has bloomed twice and smells amazing! This one is in the southern window of my kitchen.

Heliotrope

#3: Plectranthus cuttings & cabbage experiment: The plectranthus cuttings have been in the same container, with water top-offs, dead leaf pruning and flower pinching all winter long and are doing wonderfully. These are also in my south kitchen window. I'd never buy these again. They are WAY too easy to keep- whether as a plant in a container with minimal light & water or as cuttings. 

I noticed my cabbage had baby roots on it about a week ago so I stuck it in some water- the roots are growing, the leaves are growing back and there are new buds sprouting too. Just for fun. 

#4: Growing cilantro from seed indoors in winter: thin and lanky- not expecting much to come of this

That is it for today. The office kitty (Tabatha) says it's time to say good bye. 

First Seeds Arrive!

A brief run down of my first seed order of the season- compliments of a present from Dad. All from Pinetree Garden Seeds. Time to get some seeds started!
Spring seeds
Reugen Alpine Strawberry
White Soul Alpine Strawberry
McKana Giants Columbine
Fakir Parsley Root
Orach- Rose
Spinach Mix
Salsify- Sandwich Island Mammoth
Gilfeather Turnip
Lettuce- Winter Density
Pinetree Lettuce Mix
Leek- Large American Flag
Kale- Dinosaur
Cabbage- Tronchuda
Yu Choi Sum Green
Pea- Cascadia
Pea- Sugar Sprint

Summer seeds
Asparagus Pea
Basil- Siam Queen
Thyme- Magic Carpet
Ageratum- Red Sea
Pepper-Marconi Red
Amaranth- Elephant Head
Mina lobata (vine)
Milkweed- Red Swamp
Milkweed- Butterfly weed
Snapdragon- White Rocket
Lemon Monarda
Marigold- Sophia Mix
Cosmos- Daydream
Black Eyed Pea

Climate Strange

Just a pictorial view of the day. It's my birthday. It's January 6th and it is 68 degrees outside. It's officially Climate Strange. I got to hike and work in the yard today AND I got very warm and had to strip down to my tank top. Ridiculous. Views of the day:

 Nero Kale. Made some awesome Kale, Pumpkin and Tofu lasagna for dinner last night with this gem of a plant.

Overwintering Rosemary. Window overhead. Concrete blocks behind and old afghan to wrap up with on cold nights.  Not pretty.

Brussel Sprouts looking good.

Alpine Strawberry- planted itself in the concrete block hole. Must plant more of these lovelies, including in the landscape.

Marjoram NOT happy with the nights in the teens and 20's. (front right)

Deformed turnips- grown too close together. Still very tasty.

Witch Hazel in bloom.

Garden Companion 1- Smokey illustrating the use of cardboard to keep weeds out of the paths.

Companion 2- Kiki. Notice the blanket to protect the green onions. 

Today's Hike: Stemler Woods

Rattlesnake Master

Sycamore bark is so cool.

Liking the lichen.

Shelter me.

Green with envy.

Who's there?

Happy 2012 everyone!

Still Gardening

I just read The Moneyless Man. It's about a young guy in the UK who decides to go an entire year without using money. I'm not into New Year's resolutions because I can't understand why you can't start something on any other given day of the year, but that has me back to that question of whether I can garden every single day of the year. Don't worry. I'm not going to do it. I can't commit, but I can't see a reason that I couldn't do it either.
Evidence: I planted lettuce seed a few weeks ago and it came up without any protection- IN THE END OF DECEMBER!!! Amazing or scary? Here's proof:

I think this includes Matina and Winter Density. 

This got me thinking about planting other seeds so I dug a couple of buckets of soil from the chicken coop, spread them in a small area of the garden and planted 3 kinds of carrots- Amarillo (yellow), Cosmic Purple and Nantes. I'll let you know when they germinate.

The kiddo and I discussed what she wants to grow in her garden this year and she said- Fushia Zinnias, Cucumbers and Green Onions. She eats onions straight out of the garden year-round. She decided she wants her own now. So, we went to her garden from this past summer and collected the seed heads from the Zinnias since she wants them to be EXACTLY like last year. We'll see if they come true. 

I had purchased a bag of mixed tulips with the intention of planting them at my moms and never got around to it so I tossed them into a pot on the back porch today. I don't have great expectations, but I did dump a shovel of chicken coop soil in with them so maybe they will surprise me. I've had some success planting bulbs in December before, but these were starting to dry and sprout. 

I love this little vignette of a cool heuchera and mixed lettuces I planted in fall. The colors are cool together. I need to get my hands on more of these heuchera. 

I finally decided I needed to bring the Black Mission Fig inside, since it is really not hardy in this zone and I've exposed it to plenty already. It looks as though the buds are still alive. For now it is just sitting in the corner.

A random mix of "wildflower" seed that I received as a gift has me pondering this healthy looking plant. I'm not sure what it is. I'm assuming it will bloom next year. Anyone? Maybe it's a coreopsis?

And lastly, when we think there certainly can't be anything in bloom in December we saw a forsythia starting to flower on a walk yesterday and I noticed the catkins on the Hazelnut are growing. The world is not dead.

You CAN garden in December. The world is not dead. 

Gardening in December

Last night was our coldest night yet with temps somewhere around 17. I covered the rosemary- determined to keep in going. It made it. Otherwise, everything else is now on its own from here on out. So I say. I got very depressed when I decided to go out and dig some leeks for soup for lunch and guess what- the ground was frozen. Man, what am I going to do all winter if this shit keeps up? I looked at garden blogs, flipped through a seed catalog, took some pics. It got me thinking. What does it really mean to garden in winter and what would that look like? Could I "garden" everyday of the year? Sounds like an interesting challenge. 

Challenge: Can I keep green herbs outside all winter?

I don't know how well you can tell in this picture, but the herbs here- marjoram, mint, parsley and also green onions and violas- leaves have curled overnight and the mint is shiny. Here is a close-up:

Can they recover? 

YES! They can. This photo taken at 31 degrees F. 

What am I doing? Essentially, I potted them up, put them on a shelf against my house (the portion that has white siding) and on a south facing wall. I'm hoping being up against the house, sheltered from winds and against this highly reflective south wall will extend their life and even allow for all-winter-long herbs. I also have some oregano, lettuce and spinach in pots along this wall. 

Challenge: Can I grow veggies in pots over winter?

Here is my attempt at Potato Onions and Leafing Cabbage. So far so good, albeit slow.

Challenge: What other things count as winter gardening? 

Does- I haven't gotten around to digging up all the cannas yet count? Sure! And the roots still look good. I'm guessing the ground would not only have to freeze solid, but stay so for a given amount of time for them to die. The ones I could dig were either in pots or in a heavily leaf-mulched bed, hence not having to deal with frozen earth. 

Tossed into grocery bag for the winter.

Still alive!

I think eating what you grew in summer should also count to some degree as winter gardening, but that's just my opinion. Plan B- when ground is too frozen to dig leeks, eat eggplant from the freezer.

Challenge: What can I grow and eat indoors in the winter?

Answer: Leafing Celery.

I'm still waiting for my parsley, cilantro and nasturtiums to germinate in my window food farm tower. Impatiently, I might add. And lastly, having a living and plant-able Winter Solstice Tree counts as gardening in my book. Last year I picked out a lime green arborvitae (which has a lot of dead foliage now). I decided to get something a little more tough this year- a Wichita Blue Juniper. I like it. I wouldn't normally buck up $50 for a plant, but seeing what I would pay for a chopped-down one that would just be tossed away after the holidays and whereas this one not only gets planted, hopefully lasts for years, adds beauty to my landscaping and shelter for wildlife it seems a cheap alternative. Besides, having to keep it outside means I don't have to deal with boxes of ornaments, the dogs eating it and the cats trying to climb it. The string of lights is a compromise. 

Until next time and more winter garden challenges!

November Harvest & Projects

Some random garden activities of the month include stratifying seeds. My coworker gave me some Hawthorn fruit (look like tiny crabapples) she collected while hunting in a southern county. She said this tree was particularly attractive and very thorny and asked if I would start some seedlings for her. So, I whittled away the fruit and found 2 seeds within each. I dropped them in some water and they all sunk- good sign!  Next, I planted them in a used salad bar container (clear plastic with holes) and put it outside to overwinter. It is important that they are exposed to both cold and moisture in order to germinate. Here is what the soaking seed looked like:

Some recent harvests include: gnarly white carrots, kale and perpetual spinach (which is a variety of chard). I plan on eating Kale throughout the winter. Here are some pics:

I used kale in almost everything I made for Thanksgiving: 2 kinds of veggie meatballs and a Curried Jamaican dumpling. Other things harvestable now include: rosemary, spearmint, marjoram, chives, parsley, green onions, leeks, corn salad.  Things to come next include: spinach, lettuce, miner's lettuce, leafing cabbage.

What to do with that pumpkin on the porch? Slice it, remove the seeds (and roast w/ olive oil and salt), roast the slices and enjoy. I just made some pureed pumpkin soup and added a couple of potatoes to make it creamy, roasted onion and some leftover blue cheese. Roasting the veggies first adds some yummy smokiness to the soup. 

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

I was lucky enough to be a judge for the second year at the 2nd Annual Homemade Wine Tasting contest sponsored by the Millstadt Historical Society.  Lots of good entries, including: Blackberry, Black and Blueberry, White Grape, Peach, Elderberry got me interested in making my own so I decided to start some batches. 

Some of the homemade wines to be sampled.

Two small batches and a Chuy cat.

I read that Wild Plum Wine can take 3 years to reach its potential so I decided to start small in the event it totally stinks. I collected, pitted and froze wild plums late summer as they fell. On the left are the plums with sugar and water and no added yeast. On the right in the wine bottle I decided to juice some fruits around the kitchen- pomegranate, oranges and apples, add a little sugar and some baking yeast- why not? Because my house is so cold after a few days of little obvious activity I decided to put them on a heating pad to warm up the little buggers. Not surprisingly Chuy found the pad a suitable tush-warmer. 

Another winter project begun again is the experimental window garden in a tower of juice bottles. This was my take on the hydroponic window farm design, except with soil (which could mean huge mess). In the bottom bottle I have 3 spinach plants I had started from seed outside this fall. The middle bottle has parsley seeds and the top one I put nasturtiums. Maybe the nasturtiums will bloom and add some much needed winter color, but if not, the leaves are still edible.

Please don't fall. Please don't fall. 

And a close up of the spinach in the bottom tier:

And lastly, I finally ate a Bhut Jolokia. I can say I did it and I will never eat it again (whole anyway). I ended up with a nice crop. Pulease! Anything more than 3 is more than you would need anyway, right? I took them along with me to Thanksgiving dinner because I knew I could get my brother to eat one first and he did. He seemed so calm about it I ate one too (albeit a small one). The surprising thing about these peppers (at least eaten whole) is that they don't fry your mouth, but they are like a flesh-eating tumor in your throat and ulcerate your gut. I woke at 11pm that night racing for the bathroom. Notice the time on the clock gave them 2 hrs to kick through my insides. They also don't burn coming out- another pleasant surprise! Later in the week my bro ate more and was doubled over in pain. He says if you cook with them whole and remove them whole they add flavor and heat without the pain. I'm thinking of brewing some Chili Vodka for the Holidays....

Bro and Bhut