In the Garden with Pat Rubin

Bee garden writer Pat Rubin writes about everything that grows, from flowers and trees to vegetables and lawns. Pat volunteered for several years as a Placer County Master Gardener and has written about gardening for many national and regional publications. In addition to gardening, she spends time raising and showing miniature horses and miniature donkeys.

In the Garden will include news, events, advice and other gardening tidbits. Pat will also answer reader questions.

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March 7, 2008

The thrill of planting seeds

No matter how many years I’ve been gardening, no matter how many seeds I’ve planted and watched grow, I still get a thrill when I see seedlings emerge from the soil. It’s such an awe-inspiring, humbling experience.

On March 1, I planted seeds of a lettuce variety called Rubin --yes, that's the name! I found them in a Seed Savers Exchange catalog. I thought it would be a fun variety to have in my garden.

I planted them in peat pots purchased from a local nursery. It was one of those miniature greenhouse set-ups with compressed peat pots. Simply add water, let the pots expand, sprinkle two or three seeds in each pot, push a bit of peat over the seeds, put the clear plastic top on, and wait. The set-up has all it needs for the seeds to sprout: planting medium, moisture.

Once seedlings sprout, they’ll need light to grow, so I have the mini-greenhouse on a window sill that gets some sun, but not too much. You don’t want to cook the seedlings.

You’re supposed to leave the lid on until seedlings emerge, but I couldn’t resist taking it off and peeking. By March 3 the seedlings were starting to unfurl. I was so excited!

Now I’ll wait and let them grow. The first set of leaves are the seedling, or cotyledon, leaves. Next the plant will begin to produce true leaves, and when it’s a bit bigger, I’ll transplant the seedlings into four-inch pots, then finally into the garden.

Barring deer, earwigs, snails or slugs beating me to the harvest, I’ll let you know how Rubin lettuce tastes.

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