The sower went out to sow

A couple of days ago we prepared the soil, remember?  And then it rained.  So we used that time as an opportunity to get our seeds together and plan where we were going to plant things.  Today we are going to do like Jesus' parable in Matthew 13 in which the sower went out to sow.  However, we are aiming to make all of our seeds "fall on the good soil, and yield a crop - some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty."

After I checked the soil, though, the rain had made it hard and packed and I figured it best that I re-till and re-pull all the rows again.  Won't take long.  Nothing to it but to do it.


Breaking the soil like Charles Ingalls - only with a more modern team of oxen

Once the ground was tilled and the rows were pulled back up, we grabbed our seed and consulted our vegetable planting guide to determine the correct planting depth and distance between seeds.  Russ used a stick to make a small trench along the center of the row that we will plant different types of seeds in.


Making a small trench to plant seeds in

Once the trench is dug, it is time for planting.  Get your seeds together.  Below is a picture of some cabbage seeds we are getting ready to plant.  It is very important to label your seeds.  Cabbage, Cauliflower, Broccoli, and Brussels Sprouts seeds look remarkably similar.


Seeds of Change

This part of planting is a back-breaker.  Using the distance between seeds specification for each seed type, I hand plant each seed.  To be honest, I plant a little heavier than recommended in case some of the seeds don't germinate - better to be safe than sorry.  When you are finished with the row, straighten up, your back will thank you.

The genesis of a head of cabbage

Then I just repeat for each type of seed that I'm planting.  Below are some Swiss Chard Rainbow seeds, sometimes called Bright Lights Swiss Chard due to their colors.  These boogers will pop some serious color and flavor in your garden.  If the seeds look like beet seeds to you, they are in the beet family, but they don't make a round edible root like the beet does.  The leaves and ribs are what you eat and they are delicious.  We repeat this process until we've planted all the seeds we have on all the land we have.


I'm not neutral about Swiss Chard.  I love this stuff!

Finally, keeping in mind the correct planting depth, we gently cover the seeds and water.  You want to cover them because you don't want the birds to come and eat your seeds.  Then we wait for germination.  It is always exciting to see the green shoots breaking ground and marking the rows.  No matter how many times I see it, it is still amazing to me that a dead seed, put in dirt, with a little water added and a kiss by the sun, miraculously comes to life and grows!  We'll show you pictures as our seeds start to germinate.

Covering the seeds

Other than that, That's all, Folks!  We've just got to keep that "wascally wabbit" of our carrots!