A blog by Jorge Garcia.

Monday, May 12, 2008

Sprouts a poppin'

Well the last time I tried to sprout seeds I had 4 total sprouts and only two made it to plants. But these two lettuce plants have provided me with about 2 or 3 salads already and it looks like I got at least one more.
 

I like eating this lettuce because I can walk around the house asking, "Would you like a garden salad? Literally?"

Well. I've decided to go it again on the starter pots and I think I'm getting better this. Look at all of these sprouts. 
And then on a whim because I had the seeds and I remembered something from elementary school, I shook some seeds over wet paper towel and covered it up. And presto if those didn't sprout too and root into the paper. I immediately moved them outside to get the sun on the them and they are looking great.


And sprouts keep coming.
So I think my odds of a not buying lettuce or spinach anymore are getting pretty damn good. And now I'm feeling pretty cocky about my abilities to sprout seeds. Every trial I learn more. I think I might not need to buy plants anymore and grow everything from seeds. Well maybe not. I'm an impatient man in my garden.

24 comments:

Betsy said...

Well who knew Jorge Garcia was a blogger-gardener? (Okay, everyone who got here before I did!) It must be awesome to live in a place where it is safe to plant things outside already without worrying about frost. Can't wait to plant my own seeds. I can imagine the scene, offering someone a garden salad, literally. Heh. I like that sense of humor. :)

I'm really glad to have found your blog - gives a lot of depth to you, drives home how down-to-earth you are (as if I would expect any different!) Now to read some more- I got so excited that I wanted to comment immediately. Thanks for the fantastic work you do! Did you ever imagine that it would become the phenomenon that it has?

Gwen said...

I'll take a garden salad! I love lettue, and gardens!

Bethany James Leigh Shady said...

i wonder if your garden will grow mini quiches

Utter Basketcase said...

*GiGGLeS* Those little sprouts are so precious! xx

IslandLaurel said...

That's great! I always have trouble growing things beyond sprouts!

Anonymous said...

My garden wont grow anything but weeds.. :o( Or maybe I just suck at gardening, LOL. But I do have some nice purple flowers blooming in a few weeks - and I know how you like purple flowers... Ill post a pic of them when they eventually bloom.

Lynn Faruque said...

You stepped in it, bub~~~~Beth is serious. lol

You guys are cute~~

Tena

Hurleyrules said...

", I shook some seeds over wet paper towel and covered it up. And presto if those didn't sprout too and root into the paper"

MacJorge? Next thing ya know youll be making grenades out of a paper clip, a rubber band and some salsa... =p

Please Type Legibly said...

Now you're speaking my language, Jorge! You ought to check out just about anything written by Jerry Baker. He has a lot of good gardening tips which use household items, printed in recipe form. I've used his advice for years and my plants love it - especially when the grass gets a beer, which never fails to horrify my husband (but which he forgives because I use cheap beer for the grass. It doesn't know the difference, after all! LOL) Good luck with the sprouts - keep us posted!

Cool Dad said...

Nice work! A green thumb is not to be taken for granted. I've failed at even growing bamboo in the house. All it needs it water and I can't keep that alive?!!

redelf said...

Cool. My youngest son Harri wants to plant some spourts too. He wants his own tomatoes...though he hates tomatoes! lol

Anonymous said...

COOL! We've recently started our garden & I can't wait for our "Garden salads!"

michelle said...

isn't it so much fun to watch something grow?

Chrissy said...

Try asparagus. My husband and I are having a blast watching that grow!
Maybe we're just easily amused.

Honeybell said...

Okay. I'm jealous. I tried to help my six year old grow a vegetable garden last year. The vegetables all began to grow, but when they saw me they all had little cucumber aneurysms or something and died. My black thumb has no boundaries, even with children.

crystalia said...

Nice work on the sprouts! :) Let us know if you master the art of growing quiches.. :)

TheUnity (Siv) said...

Loool, you should really think of making a Gardening Documentary ;)

Shari said...

I love your blog and I love reading about your down to earth life! lol It's great. Thanks for sharing with us.

James Hernandez said...

Jorge,

You might want to let Jamie Oliver know that you are on the crusade for cleaning up the eating habits of people on the left coast.

WatsonCrick said...

My mom used to buy plants from the nursery and supermarket for our yard. One year she decided to buy seeds instead, it would result in more plants and would be cheaper compared to buy whole plants. So my mom went and bought a couple of bags with seeds and spread them in the flowerbeds. About two weeks later she went out and did some weeding to give the plants she wanted enough space to grow. The flowerbeds were spotless after she finished her work. About one or two weeks later she repeated her work, pulled out all the little unwanted plants, again leaving behind a spotless flowerbed. Later that summer she got a bit upset that she could not find any of the desired plants in her flowerbeds, in fact nothing grew over there. I told her that she might have had bad luck with the lot of seed she bought, they might not have germinated but honestly I had a theory about her intense weeding activities… The following year she went back to buy plants from the nursery…
Be careful! Nat

bignivanut said...

I don't care for salads but lettuce fresh from the garden is absolutely delicious! (and every other vegetable for that matter).

My soil is nothing but clay and it would require tremendous dedication and time (which I don't have at this time) to maintain a garden.

Luckly I live in an area with an abundance of farm gate sales and a farmers' market!

Mrs. McCullah said...

Nice garden. My 3 y/o son and I just started ours. It is small but I now know why tillers were invented. I am still recovering from a day of digging. Holy cow.

Yovanna said...

The lettuce looks great! I just started a veggie garden this year! I cheated and bought plants (five tomato plants: beefsteak, early girls, sweet 100s and sweet million) and I've already got tomatoes growing on most of them. Just started my pepper plants (two bells and one habanero) and two cucumbers (lemon and regular cukes) I'm enjoying watering and watching them grow. I'll have to try lettuce, although I think summer here (Nor California) might be way too hot for them. Looks like the grow pretty easy?

Miss Scarlett said...

Garden salads are the best --- have you had any luck with tomatoes?
They are killer right off the vine.
cue cheesy music now