Grow Greens Indoors Under Lights

[Branching Out]

I love watching Charles Dowding for his calm, soothing manner-- and his quirky remarks too. He suggests multi-sowing beet seeds in cell packs because 'they like to be with their friends', and he says fava should be planted with the eye facing down 'because they like to see where they've been'. He is absolutely charming.

He also has this really cool hot bed made of horse manure in his greenhouse. It functions like a huge seed starting mat for him, because of the heat given off by the fresh manure.

 

[meadow]

Okay, I will be gathering all of my unfrozen 'older' lettuce seed for planting directly into the garden using the devil-may-care growing method. I pledge to never again carry lettuce (or onion) seeds past the 2 year mark!

This will be helpful in simplifying my seed collection. With too many varieties, I get overwhelmed and lose focus which makes it harder to function. Less is more.

 

[meadow]

Sooooo... I'm sorting out my unfrozen lettuce seed this morning. The Mescher, purchased in 2021, has a lot number showing that it was grown in 2014.

I suppose it is encouraging to know that lettuce seed can last in the freezer. Thank goodness at least some of my seed was frozen right away upon receipt!

This morning I pricked out the 2 little Mescher seedlings and put them into a mix of potting soil and vermiculite.

 

[digitS']

Mescher

A Butterhead, eh?

I like Butterheads. They seem just about the best that we can do here and are best at the table, IMHO. So, it's a win win. However, after starting in the greenhouse, that's outdoors.

DW is more of a salad eater and wants everything except the iceberg.

Steve

 

[AMKuska]

By the way, I put all old lettuce seeds and whatever I'm not interested in growing again into a box and will sprinkle them in the 'chicken garden' after the middle of May. Last year, it wasted me quite some time waiting for those old seeds to germinate, won't happen again.

If they grow, they grow. That small area will be used mainly for producing extra food for chickens and quails.

I'm actually planning on growing a 'chicken garden' in big pots so I can drag them into the run. We have a zillion hawks and eagles in the area that always seem to carry one off when I let them have a 'day off' in the backyard. I think getting a garden in their run will provide them enrichment without the risk of sudden death.

I love the idea of using my old seed for it! No stress on waiting to see if it will grow, but if it does, good chicken food! You're brilliant.

 

[AMKuska]

I love watching Charles Dowding for his calm, soothing manner-- and his quirky remarks too. He suggests multi-sowing beet seeds in cell packs because 'they like to be with their friends', and he says fava should be planted with the eye facing down 'because they like to see where they've been'. He is absolutely charming.

He also has this really cool hot bed made of horse manure in his greenhouse. It functions like a huge seed starting mat for him, because of the heat given off by the fresh manure.

Speaking of calm and soothing, check out this youtuber! I discovered him trying to find out why I had such pathetically small root vegetables across alllll my roots (thanks to him, I now think it may be a phosperous issue) and kept watching him because of his tone.

He's just so warm, friendly and excited about gardening. It's really nice to get such a strong dose of positive attitude with every video, so I watch a little every day.

 

[ducks4you]

@Phaedra I Know what you mean about growing lettuce! This is a good time to assess what you really want to eat that you can grow. Maybe it's not worth your time and energy to plant some things just bc it's in a list of vegetables to start right NOW.
For instance, I learned several years ago that celery is impossible for me to grow. I understand that some local gardeners grow celeriac, instead. I have not ever tried it.

Celeriac (Celery Root): Nutrition, Benefits and Uses

Celeriac, or celery root, is a relatively unknown root vegetable packed with nutrients. This article tells you all you need to know about celeriac, including its nutrition, benefits and uses.

www.healthline.com

Still, you grew your green thumb growing all of that lettuce, so that's worth something!

 

[Phaedra]

@Phaedra I Know what you mean about growing lettuce! This is a good time to assess what you really want to eat that you can grow. Maybe it's not worth your time and energy to plant some things just bc it's in a list of vegetables to start right NOW.
For instance, I learned several years ago that celery is impossible for me to grow. I understand that some local gardeners grow celeriac, instead. I have not ever tried it.

Celeriac (Celery Root): Nutrition, Benefits and Uses

Celeriac, or celery root, is a relatively unknown root vegetable packed with nutrients. This article tells you all you need to know about celeriac, including its nutrition, benefits and uses.

www.healthline.com

Still, you grew your green thumb growing all of that lettuce, so that's worth something!

Celeriac is one of the new vegetables I will try to grow this year, too! It's easy to get them here, but why not take a try?

Yeah, those fresh lettuces - at the end, they became nutrients for my hens, and they laid the eggs for us, kind of E = mc²?

 

[meadow]

A Butterhead, eh?

I like Butterheads. They seem just about the best that we can do here and are best at the table, IMHO. So, it's a win win. However, after starting in the greenhouse, that's outdoors.

DW is more of a salad eater and wants everything except the iceberg.

Steve

Have you tried Grandma Hadley's? We grew it last year, along with Grandpa Admire's from Seed Savers Exchange, and they are both keepers... but Grandma Hadley's is quite remarkable.

This is what SSE says about Grandma Hadley's, in case anyone is interested:
This Hadley family favorite was commonly used in a wilted lettuce salad with hot bacon dressing, and is now among the best-loved lettuces at Seed Savers Exchange. The dark purple-tinged leaves are buttery, crisp, and slightly sweet. Donated to SSE in 1988 by Pam Andrew of Arizona, this variety was given to Pam by her 85-year-old great-aunt, Flossie Cramer of Crawford County, Illinois. Flossie's grandmother, Emma Hadley, grew the lettuce when Flossie was a child (around 1915). Butterhead, 40-50 days.

 

[Branching Out]

Just when I thought I had finished ordering seeds for a while Grandma Hadley and Grandpa Admire's sashay in to the room and entice me to get my credit card out again. Lol. I have never heard of Grandma Hadley, but have been looking for Grandpa Admire's on seed racks for a while now. A couple of weeks ago I checked the Uprising Seeds racks again, and was sad to see that it was not there; they offer it on-line, but I don't want to put in an order for just one seed pack. I have been expressly avoiding the SSE catalogue because I fear losing all self-control once I read of their rare and unique offerings. If I end up placing an order I may have to evoke The Spousal Protection Plan. You know-- part cash, part cheque, part credit card.