It’s not too late to plant your seeds, whether those you’ve harvested from last year, or the ones you’ve purchased in those cute little colorful packages. This year, I received seeds as a favor from a baby announcement and I spread them out in a full sun spot. They’re already coming up! I can’t wait to see what they are! Stay tuned my Louisiana cousins to what your gift has grown into :).
My husband, Tim, has been setting out our vegetable garden with yard long green beans, Armenian cucumbers (mikte), assorted peppers, okra, swisschard, and Indian black carrot (warm weather) seeds. These are tried and true seeds that thrive in Texas summers.
We have found that plants grown from seeds straight into the enhanced home-made compost soil, are stronger and more disease resitant than plants grown in a sterile nursery environment. In Texas, the rule for when to plant seeds is after the pecan trees start blooming. This is a sign that the last freeze has passed.
Besides native flower and herb seeds, I plant purchased French marigold and zinnia seeds. I like to plant these every other month in the growing season to maximize blooming opportunities through-out the summer and up to the first cold snap in the fall.
Part of the fun of gardening is sharing harvested seeds from year to year. I always have ample to share! This year, I experimented with Thai basil. In the late fall, when my Thai basil was in full bloom, I cut the stems and filled an enamel pitcher with them. They sat on my back porch table till the water evaporated and the seed pods dried out. I left them outside all winter and just planted them recently. The sprouts are up and are tiny emerald beauties!
What seeds are you planting?
A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop – a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. Whoever has ears, let them hear.