Starting Plants from Seed

Winter is breaking, Spring is around the corner, and once again, I'm looking at all of the garden catalogs, but one thing is different this year. My husband lost his job, and we can't buy anything we want. Thank goodness I love starting plants from seed.

We have a local five and dime store that sells some seeds for 10 cents a packet, and that's what I will do. I will grow old favorites like cosmos, and maybe even marigolds, along with veggies like cucumbers, beets, radishes, pumpkins, and of course, tomatoes.

Being responsible for the soil flat, the soil, watering, then planting the seeds, and watching them sprout is very rewarding, then I grow them on, and transplant them outside, and watch them grow and blossom.

Being able to eat the rewards is also enriching. When my husband and I moved here, we had hardly any money. Because my mother had taught me how to grow seedlings, what I though would be a dismal year, turned into one of the most rewarding years I've ever had. I grew wonderful beets and radishes that I'd never grown before, and the few flowers we had took on a whole new meaning, and they came from those 10 cent seed packets that the five and dime stores sell.

To this day, it amazes me what beauty a person can grow from a tiny 10 cent seed packet. I can't wait to get to the five and dime store, and see what seeds they have for sale, so I can get started. I hope they have lettuces, too.

Even during hard times, I feel so rich because my mother taught me how to start plants from seed.

By Carol Rodriguez from South Bend, IN