By Linda Wiggen Kraft
In this month of love, it is important to bring love to the seeds you choose to grow in your garden. The first part of seed growing is to choose what to grow. The seed catalogs started arriving before the first of the year and are still coming. These treasure books and their online counterparts bring joy and a quickening of heart with their beautiful photos and words that tempt. There are so many plants to fill our gardens, to feed our bodies and souls. There are plants for the pollinators, plants for the birds and plants for so many reasons.
There are so many choices. It’s hard not to love them all. There are organic seed companies that offer seeds for the same plants that other growers sell, but offer the whole cycle of organic stewardship. High Mowing Seeds sells only organically grown seeds. Turtle Tree Seeds grows and sells only organic and biodynamic seeds grown on their New York farm. Many other seed companies sell organic seeds, just not all organics. Johnny’s Selected Seeds has an organic section for vegetables, herbs and flowers. This seed company has one of the largest selections of vegetables, flowers and herbs along with articles about growing them. There are fifty different kinds of annual sunflowers alone at Johnny’s. Heirloom seeds share and ensure the continuity of seed genetics.
Missouri’s own Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds has a coffee table seed catalog with photos of its hundreds of vegetables, herbs and flowers. In 1975 Seed Savers Exchange began offering heirloom seeds as an exchange among gardeners. Now there is a large catalog of seeds sold to others. Richters is a Canadian herb company that sells seeds and plants. They have twenty eight varieties of mint alone along with many more herb varieties. There are many other worthy seed companies with endless offerings including our local Seed Geeks at 8816 Manchester Road, #114 or order seeds online at seedgeeks.com. Let your heart be your guide in choosing. Make sure to add love to the planting of your garden’s seeds and plants. It will make a difference. The following story shows how love can affect the growth of seeds.
A friend of mine worked in a research science medical lab here in St. Louis. The lab was top notch, the researchers were top notch and all the lab equipment was top notch. My friend, as one of the lab researchers, followed all the scientific procedures for a study of a plant that might be used as a cure for disease. My friend’s job was to grow this plant from a seed in specific conditions. She was one of two people who carried out this task. My friend’s seeds germinated and thrived. The other person couldn’t get the seeds, same seeds, to germinate. The head researcher became very frustrated that the exact same seeds thrived under my friend’s care and the other person’s seeds never lived. So one day both researchers growing the plants were brought before the head of the lab. He couldn’t understand why this was happening. All the lab conditions were the same and yet different results. My friend loved seeing the small seeds germinate and grow. Their shape and colors were beautiful. She admired the now germinated seeds and loved them. When finally asked by the head researcher what she was doing, she replied, “I admire them”. She knew she loved and admired them, but felt the word “love” wouldn’t be palatable in this scientific setting. But she knew that is why they grew. So love your seeds and plants. Love them and admire them and watch them grow.
Linda Wiggen Kraft is a landscape designer who creates holistic and organic gardens. She is also a mandala artist and workshop leader. Visit her website and blog at: www.CreativityForTheSoul.com. Her phone number is (314) 504-4266.