This past Saturday Judy and I taught a two hour class at the University of Michigan‘s Matthaei Botanical Gardens on the topic of starting seeds at home. We covered a lot of information during the class but two hours wasn’t nearly enough time considering the subject of seeds and seeding would be covered in one or two semesters if you were to attend an agricultural college.
Our participant’s experience covered a wide gamut from those who never attempted it to those with a fair amount of success.
About half of the class was interested in growing flowers while the other half vegetables. Although the primary discussion was about starting annual plants, we did touch on perennials briefly.
We spent the first hour in a classroom going over many of the basics. During the second hour we moved into the greenhouse and actually sowed seeds and transplanted seedlings. A couple of the participants weren’t really prepared to get their hands into the dirt but happily joined in anyway.
Since the class was such a success, we plan on holding it again next year.
If you are interested in starting your own plants from seed, follow along here at All Things Green for most of the information we presented in the class.
In the next post we’ll get into some things to consider before you begin sowing your seeds.
Bob
[...] at All Things Green and is one of my Internet neighbors at BlogsMonroe, is starting a series on starting seeds at home based on a community education class he recently [...]
Pingback by Monroe on a Budget » All Things Green: Starting seeds at home — March 16, 2010 @ 10:37 am
Hi Bob, I start all kinds of plants (annuals, perennials, herbs, veggies, woodies, natives) from seed and the procedure is more or less the same for all of them. For the past 6 seasons, I’ve been exclusively winter sowing everything, not indoor sowing, and I’m always disappointed that classes (other than those I teach, LOL) don’t cover this.
P.S. I’m looking forward to my foxtail lily, which I did plant last fall, sprouting. Do you recall about when they come up?
Comment by Monica the Garden Faerie — March 16, 2010 @ 10:52 am
Hi Monica, Foxtail Lily emerge early in the spring, so you don’t have too much longer to wait.
Bob
Comment by Bob — March 18, 2010 @ 2:05 pm