Is Your Soil Warm?

This weekend, after I could finally put the busy holiday times behind me, I was itching to see some growing progress, even if it was just sowing some seeds in a bag. And that's just what I did.
I started five different types of native flowers on their cold start towards germination: Lilium philadelphicum, Passiflora incarnata, Phlox divaricata, Liatrus scariosa, and Liatrus aspera. These seeds require sixty days of cold stratification before planting. My goal in all the projects I start is to use what I have on hand unless a product is absolutely necessary. So, foregoing the more popular

starting medium (that I did not have on hand) I placed the seeds between wet, wrung out paper towels, and sealed them in in sandwich bags to be placed in the refrigerator. I've never grown seeds requiring this extra step for germination, so I reached out to a propagation group I joined for advice. Two bad habits that have historically hindered my growth in any endeavor are procrastination due to uncertainty of failure and reluctance to ask for help from those more experienced. Written together like that, they are the most asinine hindrances ever, and acting on the latter can usually clear up the former!
In reaching out to the propagation group, I received some valuable feedback on my chosen method, and a better alternative. Taking action alone, despite the possibility of not successfully germinating my seeds was a good start, but getting input from those more knowledgeable was the real step of progress. It turns out the baggie method I chose will work, but it requires monitoring for seed rot and mold, attention to timing, and replanting of the seedlings once cold stratification is complete. They then shared a much simpler method: winter sowing. At first I thought they meant scattering seed outside, as nature would take care of all the processes, but this is a container method that you can still monitor and easily transport once the seeds germinate.
Using a milk jug or other plastic container that light can penetrate, you cut the jug about half way up, not quite all the way around, to create a hinged top. Make slices in the bottom for drainage, and a few holes on top for precipitation. Then, fill with at least 4 inches of potting soil, sow seeds at required depth, and place in a southerly location. Duct tape the milk jug closed for the cold months. It is important to check to ensure there is a decent greenhouse effect, as well as condensation. As the days get warmer, you can remove the duct tape and prop the lid open, much like a cold frame. The seedlings will emerge when conditions are right, and hardening off can take place right in the container, with the lid removed. I'm planning on taking my refrigerated baggie seeds and converting them to the winter sow this weekend. They'll get the cold treatment, moisture, gradual warmth, and sunshine all without too much worry and interference on my part.

Seeds are amazing little treasure boxes: all the beginnings of a magnificent oak within an acorn, the fragrant, climbing vine in a small dried pod, just waiting to burst forth in growth. Seeds can sit in envelopes for years, as if time is paused, until such a time, and just as importantly, place, that they can grow.

Without getting too philosophical, whenever I need to think about where I am in life, I think in terms of plants. This past year has felt at times like being a seed in one of those envelopes- full of potential, but not quite placed for growth.

Now there's nothing wrong with a seed that's not planted. In fact, if conditions aren't right, it's for the best! No one wants to see a moldy seed in cold, overly soggy soil, or a seed that quickly sprouted and died due to getting wet, with no soil in which to establish itself. I think that is why growing seedlings is my favorite part of all things plant related. Giving that seed just the right conditions for the best start ever, to set the tone for the rest of its lovely green life. In a few weeks this blog will be filled with seedlings of various stages of growth!

But back to this year spent in an envelope. As I think more on it, perhaps this year was more the cold stratification year, breaking the dormancy, waiting for the soil to warm. Isn't that an interesting mechanism in a seed? This need for an extended cold period prevents seeds from prematurely sprouting in fall or early winter. Without this dormancy factor, a few warm days could cause germination. But a few warm days is not enough to provide conditions for sustained growth. The soil needs to warm for the growth to be continuous, and the light hours longer for the plants to bear fruit. But only after the cold, dormant season. Maybe it seems as if the seed is doing nothing, but the season is performing on the seed. The soil warms, the seed coat has been worn or broken, and the growing can now begin.  

Where I find myself today, on the farm, is the ideal location to begin to grow my business. Where I find myself in life, comfortable with the assurance that I myself am enough to begin, grow, and succeed with this plan, truly feels like the warming soil that will spur healthy growth. To put it plainly, I am comfortable enough to grow. The cold period was less than comfortable, but necessary, to wear the hard shell that inhibited my growth. The seed is broken, so the plant may grow.

If this were just a business plan I suppose all this talk would seem a bit much. But this journey is much more than a business, much more than a career change. It is a matter of life establishment. It is setting roots for who I will be for the remainder of my time here on earth. It's not a job to retire on, but a lifestyle that will provide for me and my loved ones, so every evening we can retire, and every day we can take actions that give us life. This life will not be two separate halves- one to make money to survive and the other to capture remaining moments for enjoyment, but the joining of pursuits of love that provide a life right as we are living it. To watch this life grow will truly be the treasure, and I can feel the warmth penetrating to initiate germination.