Seedling love!

Well my first lot of vegie seeds finally arrived from ebay, and I must say the kids and I were most impressed.

I pulled out the seeds that are in season, and we started our first seedling trays. For this we used a shallow styrofoam box, some old egg cartons, and some high quality seedling mix to grow them in. To keep the soil moist, we covered them in some gladwrap.
Seedlings are very delicate, so we only water them with a gentle mist from a spray gun. We also take care that we close the windows if it gets too windy outside, as strong draughts can hurt young seedlings.

We keep our seedlings in the sunniest and warmest area of the house, so that the light and warm air can give our seeds the best start.

Here we have some 2 day old purple basil and some mixed flower seedlings:

And on Xavier's 5th birthday, he had a lovely surprise, our veges started to sprout! 

Here they are at two days old:

Above is a two day old romanesco seedling. The boys are super excited about growing these, as they form an amazing fractal pattern as they grow. Here is how they will look once they have grown: 

Amazing, arent they! They are a cross between a broccoli and a cauliflower, and have a slightly nutty taste when cooked. I cant wait to cook some of this up and serve it with a cheesy white sauce! Yummo!!

Here is what a 2-day old kohl rabi looks like:

Kohl rabi are a funky looking vegetable, which I chose for it's colour. We've never tasted them but I've read that they are similar to a turnip. I'm really looking forward to them growing, here is what they look like when mature:

We've also got some broccoli coming up too! Here's a seedling that only sprouted this afternoon:

Isnt it tiny?

Our brown onions are an interesting shape. They seem to be growing the fastest.

Along with our vegetables we started some mixed flower seedlings on cotton wool in glass jars as an experiment. They are growing really well:

Also in cotton wool, we have an old ice tray that we are growing linseed and cress in. The boys love waking up in the morning and checking how much they've grown overnight. 

The good thing about planting seeds in cotton wool is once the seedlings are big enough, you can place the cotton wool directly in your garden and it will decompose naturally. The benefit of this is the roots dont get damaged when transplanting. 

We will be using the same principle with the egg cartons. Simply cut out the individual 'pots' and place them directly in the ground, then cover with soil. The cardboard will break down over time and is friendly to your garden. 

Stay tuned for updates on how our garden is growing!