Seed Starting as MOTHER’s Gardeners Do It

article image
MOTHER EARTH NEWS Staff

The seed is awakened in the dark of Earth, the leaves are quickened in the power of the Air, and all fruit is ripened in the might of the Sun. So awakens the Soul in the shrine of the Heart. So quickens the Spirit in the Light of the World. So ripens man’s power in the glory of God.

— Rudolph Steiner, Verses and Meditations

Between the gleaming fantasies in seed catalogs and the mishmashed cornucopia that is a full-blown summer garden stand the tiny kernels known as seeds. Seed starting is the first — and therefore most important — task of the gardener’s year. Unless you go to the expense of buying all your garden plants (which will severely restrict your varietal choices) or simply wait for the weather to warm up enough to sow everything directly in the ground (which will severely curtail the length of your growing season), you’ll want to start many of your future foods and flowers indoors, in containers, under close personal supervision.

The little home births you’ll be attending demand a lot of knowledgeable care. To help you in this seminal adventure, we’ll share here the way that Walker and Olivia Abel, MOTHER EARTH NEWS’ Eco-Village gardeners, tend their own spring starts. Every year, the couple successfully raises approximately 50 flats — with up to 200 seeds per tray — of plants from seed. In other words, they know what they’re doing. So, while there are plenty of other good seed-starting systems (you may have another approach that works fine for you), we think you’ll find the following account of the Abels’ techniques helpful and potentially quite money-saving, too.

Seed Starting Materials

  • Published on Mar 1, 1985
Comments (0) Join others in the discussion!
    Online Store Logo
    Need Help? Call 1-800-234-3368