garden news-it starts with a seed

GARDEN NEWS-IT STARTS WITH A SEED

a celery seed looks this big .
we grow about 100 plants each year in our community garden
we donate a lot of them to the organic soup kitchen 
their story is on their website
they started as a nonprofit by a local chef who wanted to provide highly nutritious and high caloric soup for patients undergoing chemotherapy
these patients have issues with eating and maintaining their nutrition
from there it grew to elderly folks and those in need of a nutritious meal

when i was sick in 2020 from what i think was covid i practically lived off these organic soup kitchen soups

later when i recovered i mimicked their recipes when i make soup
no they wont give you their recipes
many of their soups are given away based on ones finances and needs

i rate them as the best soups ive ever eaten

almost every soup has celery in it
since eating these soups ive started adding celery to my beans stews etc
mimicking their recipes as much as i can
they have their ingredients on the containers

i bought the utah celery seeds from botanical interests last winter

they are slow slow growers in the greenhouse


we add that tiny little dot of a seed in a small cell that has potting soil in it 
it has about 40 cells in the tray

then 
we keep it watered
then
we wait and wait
then
up grows the tiny celery 
then
when it finally gets bigger 


we bump it up into a 4 inch pot with potting soil
then
we wait and wait and wait
finally 
we have enough of them growing and they are large enough to plant in our garden


this year one planting we did was in two raised beds about 2 ft tall
the bed is made of 4 ft x 10 ft redwood or cedar boards
the bottom is covered completely with hardware cloth to keep out those pesky gophers
then
a layer of rock is added to help with drainage
then
this year since our original soil seemed to not hold moisture well and since we arent sure its good soil anymore
well we decided to make new soil
so
we dug out all the soil
added a deep layer of coarse ground mulch
added a thick layer of christmas lima been vines
added a layer of chicken manure compost from our coup and from our garden debris
added a good soaking of fish emulsion plus seaweed plus molasses to help break down the mulch and vines
added a layer of the original soil
added a layer of compost 
added a layer of original spoil
added a sprinkling of organic fertilizer
added a layer of compost
added a layer of original soil
added the fish emulsion and seaweed and molasses 
covered it all with a thick layer of mulch
let it sit for about a  month
then
it was ready for planting


we took these 30 celery plants that were ready for transplanting
remember they started from a celery seed this small .
and planted them in our raised beds
these beds were made as an eagle scout project a few years ago

the planting holes are spaced 2 ft apart
there are 3 rows in each bed
in each hole a tbsp or so of worm compost was added
i do it like when you cook i just guess like they do on those cooking shows
then
each celery plant is planted in the hole and watered in well with the fish emulsion and seaweed and molasses
then
we wait until they grow big enough to harvest
we will get months of harvesting off these 30 celeries until the weather warms up in the late spring


so
later this winter if you go to the organic soup kitchen and buy some of their soup
look to see if it had celery in it which it will
we probably grew that celery from that little ole seed this big .

we also do this with swiss chard lettuce parsley curly kale dinosaur kale cabbage broccoli peas broccolini romanesco cilantro 
we plant our onions and leeks and garlic from plants we bug or order online 
most though we start with that little ole seed . 

this always amazes me that this little ole seed . can become those big ole plants

yes we give it all away to shelters and food kitchens

the organicgreen doctor