I never thought I would thank a hurricane for cutting off a tree branch but I have. A tulip blossomed in my garden – FINALLY! The chopped off tree branch means that my garden gets more light at last. So now I get a tulip that has never grown a flower for years. The tulip is beautiful, and I plan to plant more bulbs this fall. I get more light now so why not?
I may see more flowers but we still have frost. I am just itching to put my plants out but that would kill them and put them in shock. It is so cold out I can’t even have the windows open. The days are sunny but the wind is icy cold.
Nevertheless, I am excited now to see what the advantage of better and more sunlight means for my garden this summer. I will probably see an increase in flowers and vegetables growing better. The tulip is a good sign! I have yet another reason to look forward to summer, if this frost ever leaves. I can’t wait to put my long suffering plants out. My mugwort plants are so big now. One long stem is growing bent over but when I plant it in the garden, I will help the stem grow straight. My mugworts are almost three feet high. I grew them from seed and that tells you how long I have waited for the frost free days to arrive.
I have a new issue of Willow and Sage magazine. I want to make the marshmallow root lotion bars recipe. I have some cool Celtic molds for making the lotion bars in a cool shape. I also have skulls, witch hats and other molds to use. That will look great. The witch’s flying ointment is still steeping. The oil is a dark colour. That will turn out great. My squash is flowering and growing male flowers without being pollinated by a bee. I feel so bad for my squash vine but it is not warm enough to out. This is the problem. It really needs to warm up. I have a frost cloth but I doubt that will help. I suspect the frost is truly overstaying its welcome.
For years my garden has been a shade garden. That is changing now, and I am very happy about that. The first week of June will be safe enough to set my plants out. I have grown all my seed starts from seed, nurtured them, watered them, fertilized them and weeded out the weak plants. Soon nature will take it from there when they get in my garden. I can’t wait. I added dandelion greens and chives from the garden to my breakfast this morning! That is one of the perks of living here, going out to my garden to get herbs!
Penny keeps an eye on Gilbert, the tenant’s new cat. He is an outdoor cat and usually is on a leash. He is so cute. Penny gets excited when she sees a cat in the yard, seeing as she deems it her territory. The outdoor cats don’t give a fig. They drive her crazy roaming about in the yard, because to them, it is her turf. I love seeing her act up when cats are nearby.
The last two days I worked on my garden. I consider this to be an annual ritual. Working with soil is so therapeutic.
I bought eight bags of soil and once at home, carried them to the backyard where my garden is. I let my cat get some nature telly at the back door. I usually buy some beer and treats. I enjoy the beer when I am done the ritual.
I distributed the soil all over the garden. I had to toss out the lawn chair as it broke from the snow and cold. I tidied up the plant supports. I raked away most of the leaves. I do keep some leaves in the soil after the long winter. The leaves are like mulch or compost. I loved working on my garden. The wind was strong and cold but the sun warmed my back. I pulled out weeds and made sure that the perennials that come up every year received soil at their bases. The raspberry canes, lemon balm, sage, purple sage, mint, tiger lilies, Asiatic lilies, lovage, rhubarb, woodruff, hostess, ferns, lungwort, chives, and hasps are growing nicely. Seeing my garden emerge after a long winter cheers me up so much.
I transplanted the raspberry canes to a new spot. I had to move them or they would take over the vegetable and herb patch. I am sure they are not happy with me. I gave them new soil and water. They will grow new roots and can grow as much as they want in their new spot. I made sure they still receive a lot of sunlight.
I made my offering of milk, honey, fennel seeds and I sprinkled beer on the soil in the two patches of my garden. I have a shade spot and a big sun spot. I make offerings at each spot. This means the nature spirits will help me to grow the best garden ever!
lungwort
I am growing mugwort indoors. The plants have grown three feet or more. I keep an eye out for frost warnings. I plan to move them out soon. I know mugwort is invasive but I want to grow it in the soil in the back of my vegetable, herb and flower patch. I am tired of growing it from seed every single spring. I don’t think it will do too much damage. Mugwort can grow up to six feet so it has to placed in the back of the garden.
My other seedlings that are still growing under the grow light are doing well. They are growing so well, a little too well. I just stepped outside and it is so cold – the wind is so cold. There are no more frost warnings but the wind is cold. I will wait, I just keep the plants at the back door. The cold wind blows in when my cat gets nature telly. The light and the temperature is different in the kitchen. I could also put them out during the day and bring them in at night but that means they bring in bugs as well.
I hope that cold wind goes away soon. It has to warm up so I can put my plants out. I will wait till the first week of June. It’s hard but they would not thrive. Patience is a virtue all gardeners must practice.
My indoor herb and vegetable seed starting project is progressing nicely. I love my grow light kit. I used to grow plants like herbs and flowers without a grow light. I don’t know how I ever managed. I will never go back to not using a grow light kit. It is amazing. I’m growing tickseed, parsley, thyme, Vietnamese Cilantro, onions, kohlrabi, carrots, radishes, calendula, celeriac, bunching onions, and winter squash. The seedlings are all arranged near or at my grow light kit. I love having a grow light kit. I will never go back to the old way. The parsley and thyme I bought in pots sit at a sunny window in my office. I bought a potted rosemary and arranged that near my grow light.
I used seed starting soil, water and pots to start the seedlings in. I sprinkled mycorrhizae in the soil and Gaia Organics fertilizer. I sprinkle the seedlings with water. The window faces north but it is the only spot I can have them in that my cat Penny doesn’t disturb. I also have a few tablespoons of patience as this project requires patience. Seeds will germinate in their own good time. Then, once the seedling is up, it needs to receive all the care it can get. They can grow big, or small, wide or narrow, bright green or red, but whatever they do, they need a lot of attention and your time.
Some plants may need supports or something to grow up on, to be trained on. Some plants grow leggy and stretch toward the light. Some plants need deeper soil. Some plants can take forever to grow into a carrot or a pepper plant. They are all individual green seedlings that depend on YOU. They depend on you for good quality soil, for their growing needs, for getting the adequate amount of light. Using a grow light can help take the load off a lot of the effort for you. Seedlings growing without the benefit of a grow light don’t grow as strong. I leave the light on for my grow light kit from about 7:00 – 8:00 am in the morning till about 9:00-10:00 pm at night. That means that my seedlings definitely receive the necessary amount of light. I mist them a lot during the day. The temperature is warm enough in my kitchen.
I remove the weak seedlings and tend the strongest seedlings. A nod to Darwin here for his theories about survival of the fittest. I also label what I am growing. It is a good idea to know what you are growing! It is easy to label, you can make artsy labels or use something as simple as a popsicle stick for labeling your precious cilantro seedlings.
The carrots and parsley were a real headache to get growing. Yes I did thin them out. I waited till the carrot seedlings were about two inches in height and arranged them into rows. I discarded the weak ones. Now they all have more space from each other and are growing their trademark true leaves. I misted them with water from my spray bottle and would gently water them from a measuring cup. I use toothpicks to support them as they grow up. A measuring cup is better than a regular drinking glass. It has that dip for pouring that I love.
The carrots and parsley are growing in the deep pot for their roots shown in the photo. They were the hardest to get started but the hard work was worth it.
I also use good quality seeds. I use organic, non GMO, heirloom seeds. Good seeds, good soil and good water and good tending make great seedlings. I watch a lot of videos on Youtube for good gardening inspiration. I store my seeds in their paper packets in a metal box. The seeds stay fresh too with a silica gel packet. I just rearranged the seeds. I store the herbs and flowers in one metal box and the veggie seeds in the other.
The best tool in your toolbox is patience. They don’t get perfect overnight and grow overnight to their ideal size. They take their time. They grow at their own rate and they are fine with that, your green charges, oh yes. Cultivate patience as you cultivate your little green friends and they will try to grow their very best for you. I hope the tips in this post help you and inspire you to exercise your green thumbs. Happy growing!!
Hello my lovely readers! Even though we are on the cusp of spring, winter lingers. Last night, the howling wind kept me up half the night.
I have a lot on my mind right now. My grandmother is not well. She has to be moved to the city and that means uprooting her. I hope it all works out smoothly. I am very worried about her. My grandmother is in her nineties but is in otherwise good health.
I scattered birdseed at the Mumford Terminal and in my backyard. I saw the rat and waited and watched for a sign that the birds had found the seed. Indeed they did. I look after all my little ones. It’s cold out and I worry about them. Food is scarce for my avian friends.
I just watched the amazing movie Alien with a friend. I respect the exhausting effort that must have gone into making the movie. Yes art means effort. And that movie truly is amazing. I remember watching the sequel years ago.
I donated my copy of Todd Keisling’s book to the library. Due to my negative experience with him, I saw no sense in keeping it. I only welcome positive energy here.
It is spring in my apartment! If it can’t be spring outdoors, it will be so indoors. I’m growing a pot of basil and rosemary cutting and I have a pot of parsley. I set up my grow light kit where I am growing a number of herbs by seed. I have another pot with radishes and carrots germinating. I hope they all grow well. I know the herbs will grow well in the grow light kit. I will post what I am starting by seed in the grow light kit soon once I find the list. I can’t remember right now. I keep watering the herbs a little, enough to moisten them but not drown them.
I love herbs. I’m progressing nicely with the herbal courses at the Herbal Academy. I am on Unit 2 in Advanced and I am enjoying the Mastering Herbal Formulations course too. I recently reviewed the Becoming a Herbalist mini course that the Herbal Academy once again offered for free. Tomorrow I no longer have access to it and so I ensured I downloaded the pdf of the course.
I have to work harder at composing the 15-20 monographs for the Advanced course. I hate distractions and I am my own worst enemy. The herbs and flowers are dormant now but soon spring will raise her green head. I cannot wait. It cheers me though I love the dark half of the year. I am a herbalist/ gardener by heart. I water the seedlings in the grow light kit the most because the soil dries out so fast. The green seedlings need moist soil. That is how they thrive.
I am so grateful the Herbal Academy gives me so much time to complete the courses. I can study at a better pace that way. I never stop learning and I love everything I am learning. There is so much for me to learn. It is a truly fascinating subject!
Spring is in the air. It must be because I have a pot of parsley and a pot of basil on my windowsill. I also am trying to get the rosemary cuttings to grow new sprouts. Imbolc is almost here! I love that. Imbolc is the first of the three Spring Sabbats. I can’t wait to start sprouting herb seeds. Tomorrow I will buy seed starting soil! Oh I can’t wait.
For those of you who wish to learn all about Imbolc, you have come to the right place. Stir the cauldron!!
Imbolc
Imbolc, or Imbolg, is one of the lesser-known festivals of the ancient Celts, but it was one of the four most important festivals in the Celtic calendar. For this ancient society, the year revolved around two main points; on the one hand, since the Celts were an agricultural society, everything was based around the harvest.
On the other hand, they also had an in-depth knowledge about the alignment of the sun and stars, which history suggests had great significance for them. So their calendar was neatly divided up into four quarters, with a festival to celebrate reaching each one. The year started with Samhain at the end of October, when the harvest was in full swing, to prepare for the onset of winter.
In Celtic philosophy, light must always follow dark, so this is why their year began on such a somber note. Bealtaine at the beginning of May marked the coming of summer, the beginning of sowing crops, and the light half of the year, and was the biggest and happiest celebration. In between were Lughnasa in August, marking the beginning of the harvest, and Imbolc in February, to celebrate the beginning of spring.
What was Imbolc about?
Simply put, Imbolc was a celebration of the end of winter and the impending light half of the year.
The hardest part of the year was over; adverse weather, cold temperatures, food rationing, and of course, no warfare (an integral part of Celtic society) would soon be a thing of the past.
Farmers were getting ready to go back to work, preparing animals for breeding, warriors were picking up their weapons again, and the political and social aspects of life that had been put on hold for winter were also beginning again.
The name Imbolc originates from ‘i mbolg’, which translates as ‘in the belly’. This refers to livestock breeding season, particularly the pregnancy of ewes, which was one of the focal points of the celebration.
Because the festival was so associated with this, it’s timing often varied – it could be anywhere from mid-January to mid- February depending on the weather and the animals’ behaviour.
It also appeared to have a more spiritual significance for the Celts too, as it’s no coincidence that more than a few megalithic monuments around Ireland are perfectly aligned with the rising sun around the dates of Imbolc and Samhain.
Imbolc was celebrated all across Ireland, Scotland, and the Isle of Man, with each region having slightly different variations in name and customs. Wales also had a remarkably similar version of the festival known as Gwyl Fair y Canhwyllau.
After the onset of Christianity in Ireland, the festival was tied in with a celebration of Saint Bridget, and transformed from a pagan one into a Christian one.
Christians used Brigid as the focal point of their celebrations to smooth the transition, as Imbolc had previously been associated with a goddess of a very similar name, Brighid. Essentially, Bridget and Brighid were the same person! As with all Celtic festivals, Imbolc involved a host of unique customs and rituals to welcome the spring, say farewell to the winter, ward against evil and promote health and wellbeing.
Imbolc was similar to Samhain and Bealtaine in that fire played an integral part of the celebrations, although not on the same scale. While at Samhain bonfires were lit to ward off evil spirits and at Bealtaine they served to offer protection and growth, at Imbolc they were symbolic of the sun’s return.
Rather than a huge central bonfire at the centre of the festivities, Imbolc was more about the home and each home’s hearth. Every home in the community would have their own fire burning right through the night, and during medieval times when homes consisted of actual wood and stone buildings rather than the wattle and daub huts of the Celts, all of the fires in the house were lit for the night. If for some reason that was not possible, it was sufficient to have candles lit in every room instead.
The Celts were always concerned about the weather (something that has lasted up until the present day with modern Irish people!), so Imbolc was an important time to read omens and attempt to predict the weather for the summer. An unusual but widely popular omen was if the weather was especially bad on the day of Imbolc, which meant a great summer was on the way. This is because one of the more malicious creatures in Irish folklore, the Cailleach, would spend the day of Imbolc collecting firewood for herself if winter was to last a while longer.
To do this, she would obviously need a bright and dry day to collect her wood, so if Imbolc was wet and windy, that meant the Cailleach had gone to sleep and winter would soon be over.
Visiting wells was another important custom for Imbolc, particularly holy wells. Visitors would walk around the well in the same direction as the sun traversed the sky at that point on the land, praying for health and wealth for the year.
Offerings were left at the well once this was done; usually coins or ‘clooties’ (pieces of cloth). Special foods were also part of the festivities, usually consisting of bannock – a flatbread cut into wedges – as well as dairy products and meat.
The early Celtic version of Imbolc was not all that different from the festival in early medieval times when Christianity was taking hold in Ireland. One of the goddesses the Celts worshipped at this festival was Bhrigid, the daughter of Dagda (the chief Celtic deity) and one of the Tuatha De Dannan, the first inhabitants of Ireland.
She is associated with many things, most significantly poetry and fertility, but such activities as healing, smithing, arts, and crafts, tending to livestock and serpents also make the cut. She is credited with creating a whistle for people to call to one another through the night.
Some legends claim that while one half of her face was beautiful, the other was horribly ugly. She is thought by many to be the Celtic equivalent of the Roman goddess Minerva and the Greek goddess Athena.
Saint Bridget, on the other hand, was not a mythical goddess but a real woman, born in Dundalk, County Louth, around the 5th century AD.
During her lifetime she became a nun, founded numerous monasteries and performed her fair share of miracles, becoming one of the foremost advocates of Christianity in Ireland. After her death, she was made one of Ireland’s patron saints (and the only female patron saint), along with Patrick and Columba. So it was a natural progression for Imbolc, the pagan festival worshipping the goddess Bhrigid, to become the Christian festival in honour of Saint Bridget. February 2nd was chosen as the permanent day of celebration.
For the Celts, Bhrigid represented the all-important light half of the year, so her presence was much revered during the festival.
On Imbolc Eve, it was claimed that she would visit the most virtuous homes and bless everyone who slept in them, so people would leave pieces of clothing, food, or other tokens outside the entrance for her to bless, or to entice her into the home, It was Bhrigid’s role as a fertility goddess that was most important here, but for the medieval people of Ireland, her healing powers and general protective sense were as important as well as her fertility.
The majority of Imbolc traditions regarding Bhrigid or Bridget come from this time. While the tradition of leaving small tributes to Bridget on the doorstep continued for several centuries, several others sprang up too.
Celtic Inspired Torc Pendant – Celts believed the ancient Torc provided the wearer with a mystical form of protection
Ashes from the fire that was left to burn all night long would be smoothed out and left to see if a mark from Bridget appeared, to confirm that she had visited the house. Sometimes a makeshift bed would even be made up next to the fire, in case the saint wanted to rest a while.
This tradition was particularly popular in the Isle of Man and Scotland, where there were several short rhymes to go along with the tradition, acting as a call to the Saint to come and visit – generally, they were some variation on the phrase ‘Bridget, come in to our home, your bed is ready’. In some areas across Ireland and Scotland, women played a very important part in the festivities. They would make a doll figure from rushes known as a ‘Brideog’, dress it in white and with flowers, and carry it in a procession while singing hymns and poems in honour of Bridget.
At every home they passed, they would receive more pieces of cloth or small bits of food for the Brideog. Once the procession was finished, they would place the Brideog in a seat of honour and have a feast with all of the food, before placing it in a bed for the night while they began celebrations.
The most well-known tradition, however, and one that is still practiced today, is making a Saint Bridget’s cross and hanging it in the home. These crosses were a unique symbol of the transition from Paganism to Christianity. Before, bunches of rushes were tied together and hung at the entrance to homes to welcome Bhrigid. One of the stories of Bridget’s lifetime, however, recounts how she wove a cross from rushes and placed it above a dying man’s bed.
He roused from his delirium to ask what she was doing, and on hearing what it meant, he asked to be baptised before his death.
Since then, the cross has been a symbol for Bridget, and was also a familiar symbol for the Celts, making it the perfect transition symbol for Imbolc. The cross is distinctive, with a square in the middle and each point of the cross placed at a corner of the square. Somewhere between then and now, placing a cross in your kitchen came to mean that your house would be protected from fire.
Imbolc today
Unlike Samhain, which transformed into the much loved night of Halloween, Imbolc is one Celtic festival that hasn’t quite survived through history.
Although Christians still celebrate St. Bridget’s Day in Ireland and children still learn how to make crosses at the start of February, little else remains of the ancient Celtic spring festival. However, Saint Bridget’s cross, made from rushes and hung around the home just as the Celts would have done, is as good a reminder as any to the festival’s ancient and mythological origins.
Today is rainy, snowy and very overcast. Snow lightly covers the ground. Raindrops splatter the windowpanes. It is a sleepy, stay home type of day. The next turn in the Wheel of the year is Imbolc. Before I get started, I just wanted to write here that I know I haven’t posted much. This week, I had to deal with an infected tooth and an abnormal amount of pain. I had to get that under control’s which involved freezing my tooth at the hospital, and a lot of painkillers and an antibiotic to clear up the infected tooth. I am feeling much better now.
Imbolc is coming soon! My kitty Penny woke up from her long nap. I just gave her a cuddle. Imbolc is exciting to me because it is the first of the three Spring Sabbats. Imbolc is a time of renewed hope, purity and the return of the light. The cold remains but hope and new life stirs beneath the soil. I will post more here about Imbolc. I have a recipe on how to make Imbolc inspired cookies already. I can’t wait to try it!
Imbolc is the perfect time to read seed catalogues and to plan what you want to grow this spring. Or at least to think about which plants you want to start indoors. I plan to get the seed starting kit back from my Mom’s. I have to wait to get soil. Once I do, I plan to start seeds early. It’s my opinion that tomato plants take a long long time to grow, and I believe that they need to be started earlier in order to reach their maximum growth earlier in the year to bear fruit. This has been my observation.
Tomorrow I hope to get the Mastering Herbal Formulations book from the Herbal Academy in the mail. I can really get deep into the course once I have the workbook. I wish they did delivery on weekends but I guess USPS doesn’t work that way. I have read Unit 1 and I get most of the ideas. The calculations look complicated but not impossible. I really need to learn this stuff in order to sell my teas at the local farmers market. That is my goal and part of why I am studying at the Herbal Academy. I want to run a herbal business when I graduate. First, I have a lot to learn. I want to take my time and learn and then I will have a better chance of running my herbal business.
I had reservations about blending two or more herbs in a tincture and other preparations. The Mastering Herbal Formulations course will take away my reservations and give me a renewed confidence. I look forward to reading and learning more in Unit 2-3. The courses at the Herbal Academy are fascinating. I love everything I have learned so far. So to return to the topic of spring seed planting, I have a few new herb seed packets to try this spring. I have many packets of seeds. However, this spring, I have motherwort seeds and I can’t wait to start that from seed. There are too many for me to count here that I want to get started. That will have to be in a future post.
If you ask me, time is speeding up. I can’t believe how fast time goes now. It seems like I was holding a bonfire in my back yard and now I want to pore over seed catalogues. Does anyone feel like time is speeding up? To what purpose? It’s hard to say. I will just ride the crest of this ‘wave’ as best I can. The possibility of the return of spring cheers me greatly.
This post tells you how to sustain your indoor seedlings until it is time to transplant them. I was out in my garden this morning. I’m delighted to see so many plants come up, thumbing their green noses at winter. Lady’s mantle, chives, raspberry, mullein, tiger lilies, my haskap berries, lavender, sage and red clover. These are just a few. I live in zone 6. It is not time yet to transplant the seedlings yet (how I wish). It’s hard to keep them going but this post will share tips on how to grow them to their very best potential.
The first tip I want to mention here is not to overwater them. This is why it pays off big time to do your research on plants. Sage, lavender, thyme, oregano and rosemary may originate from the Mediterranean. They like hot, arid conditions. I mist the plants with a spray bottle once to twice a day. That is it. If you do drown your plants, that can cause root rot or damping off. Then the seedlings die. Mist them, get the surface of the water wet or maybe a little more. I water them in the morning.
Make sure your plants get lots of access to sunlight. You can use a grow light if you wish. This is almost more important than the plants getting water. The natural sunlight encourages the strong plant and root growth vital for them growing so strong. Plants can turn and stretch to reach the sun. This is why you hear people telling you to turn the pots. Plants reach toward the sun.
Good soil is the next point here. My seedlings are healthier this year because I used good quality soil. I mentioned this in a previous post. I am sure it is because I used good soil instead of poor soil from the dollar store. The bad soil lacks the nutrients.
While we are at it, get good seeds too. I ordered a package of mystery seeds from Green Witch co. I am so glad I did. I have never had such good luck with seedlings as this spring. I am sure it is a combination of the watering techniques, the soil and the seeds. Plus, I don’t use peat pots. I prefer the plastic starter pots over peat pots. This is a big tip. The peat pots don’t hold water the same way as peat pots do. I also have McKenzie heirloom seeds and organic seeds.
Some people rush in using potting soil to start their seeds in. Nope, you need a good seed starting mix to grow seeds in. When they outgrow the starter pots and need to be transplanted into bigger pots, then you can use potting soil. You can even mix the two soil types together.
Be gentle with the seedlings. Transplant them gently into their new pots. Be careful with the seedlings and they take over from there. Plants are living beings and have a mind of their own. Fertilize them when they are in their new pots placed on a window ledge where sunlight streams in. Watch them grow beautifully. It is amazing how plants work.
The last point to make here is to have patience with the seedlings. You were a baby once too, and your mother was patient with you. Treat your plants the same way and they will grow into beautiful strong plants. Save the strong plants. I am not too happy that not all my seedlings have survived. I just do what mother nature does. I encourage the strongest seedlings to grow.
Store the seeds you are not using in paper envelopes or very dry jars. Seeds will last a long time that way. Be sure to label and date the containers.
If you follow all these tips, your plants may make it to transplant time. Never let the soil dry out, keep it moist. Place them in sun or under grow lights. Good luck planting!!
The invasion has begun! It is inescapable. Penny has run out of play room too! Oh my what am I to do? Did I get your attention? Ok I’m referring to the invasion of seedlings that have taken over my home, Goodness there are so many plant pots in here. Burn a candle and light some incense! Play relaxing music.
This post is about how to create your own soil mixes for your own tender seedlings. You DO have young green seedlings in your apartment right? lol
Well let’s get started. I like mixing up the soil.
Ever notice that plant pots are round in shape? I like to think of the planters and plant pots as cauldrons. They have a lot more to do with cauldrons than you think. This may just change the way you garden from now on. Grab a cup of tea and join me.
I mentioned the benefits of purchasing and using good quality soil in the last post, right? There is a good reason for that. It helps your plants get off to their best start, off to the races running. or, in this case, growing. Let’s take it a step further.
Set down newspaper on the counter or wherever you choose to work in your home. Put the plant pot or seedling plant pot on the newspaper. Be willing to get your hands dirty. I love getting my hands right into the soil but that’s just me. Place a pitcher full of cold water nearby. Open the bag of soil. Next tip: I put a cloth grocery bag (plastic bags are banned here). It keeps the bag from spilling or making a mess. Just don’t forget about it but you won’t, will you?
Mix the soil into the plant pot. As you do this, envision that you are filling the pot with the energy of the Goddess. (Use a round pot for this.) You will see why now. The pot is round, so is a cauldron. The pot is deep ( well, most of them are). So is a cauldron. The cauldron is the deep earthy womb of the Goddess. The pot is too once it is full of soil. Once it is full of soil, meditate and reflect on the earthy goodness of the soil from the Goddess and the pot too. Mix that soil up in your hands. Smell it, feel it, cradle it in your hands. Visualize the energy traveling from your hands to the soil. Feel the energy traveling from the soil to you. I always do feel the energy of the soil. That is why I never wear gardening gloves. I love feeling the connection.
Stir the soil with a wooden spoon or your own eager hands. Loosen up any clumps and remove rocks. If you want, depending on what stage of growing your seedlings you are at, you can add fertilizer. Mix in bonemeal, bloodmeal, worm castings, coffee grounds or ground eggshells. Be sure to stir thoroughly. As you do, mix well and visualize. Direct the energy of your intention into the soil.
If you choose, you can put the seedling into the plant pot THEN fill it with the soil. After that, when you have centered the seedling into the pot, and placed it in deeper than it was before in the starter pot, add the soil. Be sure to visualize, direct the energy and feel the soil in your hands. Grow with love and you will get love. The DNA of the future plant is contained within the seed. So planting a seed truly is an act of magic!
Once the seed is planted, in a matter of days a cotyledon emerges, a tiny sprout. That sprout can grow into an oak tree, parsley or a pumpkin. Don’t crowd your seedlings – their tender roots need room to grow. I watched my Mother transplant over three dozen cherry tomato plant seedlings. Some of the starter pots contained up to five seedlings! They are all growing in their own pots now, much less crowded.
A plant is a living being with feelings. Treat the plant like that and you will be rewarded many times over with a plant happy to grow and bloom and/ or bear fruit or seeds! If it is thirsty, water it. If it droops, place it in more light. If it is crowded or rootbound, repot it. I can sense when a plant is thirsty. You can also use your hair dryer to blow for a few seconds on your plants. That signals to them that they should grow strong stems. If it is warm enough where you live, leave the window open. The wind that wafts in will help them grow!
I hope this post inspires you to get growing your own plants! Let me know in the comments below.
Oh my goddess ! I have so many seedlings in my apartment I could fill a store up with them. I’m running out of room. I decided I would share tips on how I successfully began my seedlings in this post today. Grab a cuppa herbal tea and enjoy this post!!!
First, let’s begin with you figuring out what your intentions are. Do you want to grow lots of veggies to hold off on a possible food shortage? Do you want to grow a witch’s garden for teas and potions? Do you like a conventional garden of just flowers and herbs? Do you dare to grow some poisonous witch’s herbs? ( in which case, if so, research them first and please, PLEASE don’t plant them if kids and pets visit your garden. Or grow in pots indoors away from kids and pets- and wildlife and adults.)
Do you have the room and the budget and the time to devote to a garden? Once you have fully realized your intentions and answered the other questions, we can move to the next step. Growing the witchy herbs that you can harvest and enjoy all summer long. My intention is easy. I am studying herbalism and so I want to grow herbs that I can learn about at the Academy. I want to grow a lot of herbs to save money and not need to buy them at a local organic food store. I want to learn how to use these herbs medicinally and for my witchy path too. See how I did that?
Growing your own herbs helps you get to know the plants on a deeper level too. Herbs like mint, parsley, basil, rosemary, thyme and sage are good herbs for healing and can be used in cooking. Yarrow, white, sage, nettles, mugwort are also witchy! Choose organic or heirloom seeds. Use good quality potting soil. Do use good soil. Don’t waste your money on low quality soil. The care you give the seeds and seedlings now pays off hugely in the future. Good quality soil encourages stronger root growth and helps you grow stronger plants and is affordable. The benefits you will receive of growing stronger plants outweights opting for cheap soil from a dollar store. Go with the strong seedlings and then you can choose which ones to thin out later.
Use a grow light or a big sunny window to grow your plants. I don’t own a grow light. I just arrange the pots at a window and sacrifice the space in my home until the frost passes. I water them frequently when the soil is dry. The trick is not to overwater the seedlings. Get a spray bottle to mist the plants. Don’t drown them or the roots will rot.
So, now you know why you want to grow herbs, you have your grow lights and/ or a sunny window, your soil and your organic heirloom seeds. Now what? Here is the fun part and the hardest part- you have to have patience. Plant one or more seeds- just a few- in each starter pot. Label the pots to know what you planted where. That makes it easier on you unless you have an amazing memory. I can never remember. You can use popsicle sticks for labels. You can even draw sigils on them or witchy pentacles! Use your imagination!
If you have a plastic dome, cover the starter pots with the dome. This traps the moisture which seeds like to grow. You can empower the seed pots with your witchy intentions for them to grow strong. If you don’t have a dome, use saran wrap to cover the pots. Don’t layer it on to smother the plants. Leave an inch or two of space because that might kill the plants. Every so often, lift the saran wrap and let them get full sun. When they grow their true leaves, keep the dome or wrap off. Have lots of patience here. You get more life out of the green babies with tons of sweet talk and coaxing than using brute force. Trust me. Now is the time to cultivate a nurturing nature. I am not saying you would be cruel but gently guiding them and not getting angry if you don’t get the results you want is much better. Sometimes, plants just won’t grow for whatever reason.
When they outgrow the starter pots, you can gently tuck them into slightly bigger plant pots. That is the fun part! I love watching plants I began from seed grow into these beautiful herbs. I just love that, that and their scent. There are just so many amazing things about herbs. I can’t list them all here but I know you know what I mean.
The tips:
Remember, don’t over water them!
Keep the soil just moist.
Practice organic gardening methods.
Choose good quality soil and good starter pots.
Be gentle and don’t use pesticides. You kill the beneficial insects.
Trust that the herbs will grow into beautiful plants. Let go and let mama earth do what she do best.
I can’t wait till the frost passes. I can’t wait to grow the white sage, sage, yarrow, kale, leeks, peppers, tomatoes, borage, anise, calendula, cucumbers, echinacea, dill, and lemon basil – all begun from seeds – outdoors. I cannot wait. I have saved scarlet runner beans, the seeds I have mentioned here and rue and yarrow seeds on order. I can’t wait to get growing!
It is all predetermined in a single tiny seed. That seed can grow into a huge plant. Each seed contains the DNA of the plant. If that doesn’t amaze you, it sure amazes me. Some seeds have to be planted 1/4 inch under the soil and some need to be planted deeper into the soil. I go by the sizes of the seeds to determine that. Bigger seeds can go deeper into the starter pots. Seeds, like chamomile, are just spread over the surface of the soil. They are so tiny and fine.
If you get dark, rainy weather like we do here in the Maritimes, then you can turn a lamp on and place it next to your plants. This helps them get maximum light. A grow light does help plants grow well. You can also use a fan to trick the plants into growing thicker stalks and stems. It mimics the wind.
I hope the above tips and tricks inspire you to get growing your own amazing herbs! Blessings,
I’m busy sprouting seeds. I have sprouted way too many seeds but this does mean that I get a better harvest come autumn. !! I have sprouted brandywine tomato, Scotch Bonnett peppers, kale, leeks, german chamomile, lavender, cucumber and purple echinacea. I can’t wait to grow them in my garden! I have too many starter seeds here. The more, the merrier.
Tomorrow I plan to sign up for the Botanical artwork class at the Herbal Academy. I’m buying the sketchbook for the course too. I want to get the apothecary labels for bottles and jars too. I can’t print in color. I want to order rue and yarrow seeds. Yarrow is good for our health and rue is witchy and guards the home!!
I also want to grow lemon basil, and start growing the witchy seeds I ordered months ago. Black cumin, howden pumpkin and vietnamese cilantro are just a few. It sounds so tasty! I have a few big starter pots sporting my tender seedlings. I don’t have enough starter pots for the seeds. I have successfully pre-germinated chamomile seeds on a damp paper towel in an old pet food bowl. It worked!! There are so many tiny chamomile seedlings I can’t even count them all. They will grow into the beautiful daisy like apple scented herb we all know and love. It is too exciting!
I sterilized a pot from the garden and washed it well. I use bleach to kill any possible insects/ insect eggs that may have hibernated in the pot over winter. Then once clean, I filled the pot with soil. The pot was 12 inches in diameter. I put pre-germinated parsley seeds, and added sage seeds, basil, dill, radish and carrot. Mmm I can just taste it. The pot sits on my kitchen counter. I just can’t wait for the seeds to germinate and fill the pot with their earthy goodness. I may move the pot out once the warm weather arrives. But for now, the pot is indoors. It is too cold yet. I want to plant potatoes in a grow bag. I can start that in mid-April. I have to grow the tubers at my Mom’s to protect them from ravenous raccooons. The masked thieves just bite a potato then toss it. It’s wasted. Nope not this year. I will be ready for those bandits.
I want to start nasturtium seeds early this year. If I wait till later in the summer, they will take forever to get growing. The time to start seeds is now. I have lovely scarlet runner beans in air dried brown pods. I plan to grow those this year too along with green beans and purple beans. The purple beans turn green when cooked!
That is a good start to spring! Beginning a plant from seed saves you tons of money later. It can be expensive to buy lots of transplants. There is a time and place to transplants though. I do it too but later in the season when the perennials have filled the garden. I know what to plant and where I can plant. Put your intention into the seed starting! Happy planting!
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heddyjohannesen @ gmail.com
The Paranormal Quill 