La Belle's Hobby Farm: When at First Your Seeds Fail, Transplant, Transplant, Transplant

It is good to be alone in a garden at dawn or dark

so that all its shy presences may haunt you and possess you

in a reverie of suspended thought. 

~ James Douglas, Down Shoe Lane

E

ven the best laid plans of mice. . .or in this case, gardeners.

So far it looks like my seed starting days are numbered.  The tomatoes and broccoli that did come up are too spindly to transplant.  I think it’s time I started looking at greenhouse plans. (Cue the grumbling ~ now I know why Southern Living has a column by the Grumpy Gardener!)

But the seeds I direct sowed last week are coming up already!  When I got home from work, there was still just enough light to see my wee babes. Good thing I was alone ~ anyone stopping by right then would have thought I was a complete loon, praising my plants for their growing prowess and cooing over them as I watered and weeded. The pictures are a little dark, but I love the half light effect:



Cilantro



Basil - Sacred

And my other direct sow babies are also doing Momma proud:
 

Sugar Daddy Snap Peas - still no pea pods, but the greens are huge!


 

Lettuce - time to pick and eat!


 

Lavender - this one's a transplant from a farm in Leesburg, VA

One Picky Farm Babe

As for the starter seeds, I know when to admit defeat.  But Memorial Day weekend is almost here, and I need transplants if I’m going to have any tomatoes in June or early July.  What’s grumpy farm girl to do?!

Most gardeners would simply head out to their local nursery and pick up a few flats of plants and think no more about it.  But here at La Belle, we don’t just buy random plants.  I’m a firm believer in sustainable and organic farming, land conservation, heirloom seed preservation, and keeping our food supply GMO free.  The two most important items on that list are organic and GMO-free.  Which means I won’t just buy random plants ~ even if they’re labeled organic.  Buying GMO-free is my way of sticking it to commercial conglomerates like Monsanto.  Seriously, splicing pig DNA with corn?!

Ewwww.

Now back to my transplant dilemma.  There aren’t any organic, non-GMO nurseries near me.  (If you know of any, please let me know!)  So I Googled “organic, non-GMO plants for sale” and found a company that I had not come across when I bought my seeds: Sweet Corn Organic Nursery.  Not only do they fit the criteria, but they have a BOGO free deal going on and the most important thing: the plants would ship before May 27 (there were a couple other places that also ship organic, non-GMO plants, but they wouldn’t ship until after Memorial Day.)  I even called them to check on my order and when I said I wanted them by Friday, they called the shipping department to make sure my order goes out today.  Now that is customer service!  Thank you, Bryan!!

Let’s just say, I went a little crazy.  But in my defense, shipping was free and I didn’t buy plants for just my garden.  I bought plants to give away.  Otherwise, I’m going to be able to start a canning business with all the tomatoes I ordered. 

Now about those greenhouse plans. . . .

Oremus pro invicem,

~ Mikaela

Where do you buy your organic, non-GMO plants?