old seeds in coffee filters

I hate the idea of throwing away old seeds, but I also dread planting rows of hopeful vegetables just to find that none of them are going to grow.

My earlier project inspired me to find more seeds to plant, but most if not all of my vegetable seeds are several years old. I don't want to waste anytime in our p-patch, and I don't want to use my limited amount of small growing pots. In a moment of recycling genius (not mine - I read about it here), I remembered we have coffee filters for a machine we no longer own, and plenty of ziplocks.

Each bean (I had six different packets) has it's own filter/baggie, then I taped the packet to each and set them up on top of the fridge. Hopefully we'll get some (and not hundreds) of bean plants. Stay tuned!



We should garden like our life depends on it. Because it does.

Sunday 3/22 update: the filters had seemed to dry out this morning, so we opened up the ziplocks to check. They were still a tiny bit damp, but clearly the beans soaked up a lot of the water. Meaning, the beans are probably still living organisms, meaning we may end up with a TON of bean plants. We sprayed a little more water in each and put them back on top of the fridge.

Thursday 3/26 update: I opened up one of the bean bags and it smelled AWFUL. So, I got rid of that one. The peas aren't doing anything and there may be potential for one on the bean bags to do alright. I am no longer feeling like a genius. At least not for this endeavor.

May update: the beans molded and the basil got aphids. So much for that project!

tiny basils and thyme

Earlier I was transplanting some tiny basils and thyme - I've never been able to get them past the leggy baby stage, so this is always a bit of a trying experience. They seem so fragile and unlikely to reroot. I try every year anyway, never changing my methods but hoping that maybe this year is going to be the one.

For the first time I'm utilizing a grow light, of sorts. I found a tray and put them up on the mantel right next to a arm-hinged lamp - it currently only has a full-spectrum light in it but I'm wondering if that'll work...

Then I planted some old cilantro seeds directly into a chipped glass I was wondering what to do with - I want to see for once how much water is actually getting down to through the soil. Plus it'll be fun to watch the roots grow a little bit.

As I was doing all of this it struck me what a delicate job it is to transplant such a vulnerable plant. I loved every minute of it and fell for each of those plants - I'm really going to be disappointed if they don't grow. I am starting new seeds this afternoon though, so I'll have more opportunities to try...

Later: Just added to the mantel (not pictured) - tiny thyme and parsley seeds.

procrastination station

I got to work this morning and there was an article about a local artist who makes her own clothes (and has a clothesline) out of recycled clothing, which is something I started playing around with a few months ago. That was only the beginning. That led me to etsy.com, where I can get lost for days. I love my job - I do, but my focus lately has so much been on creating clothes, gardening and other crafty things. I wish it was possible for me to spend my days creating things, both indoors and outdoors, then blogging about the resources I find along the way. Wait - don't people do this?

bike rides and seed bombs

Last night C and I had dinner with two friends we've known forever but never see - we haven't been social much this winter and it was such a nice night. Good food, good friends and conversation - and we got to see their new house, which is this charming 1920s boxcar-like house in West Seattle, which is an area I keep finding myself in lately - I'm definitely intrigued by the neighborhood...

So this morning we slept in then headed to a brunch for a local organization I just found out about called the Nature Consortium. Their mission is "to teach environmental lessons through the creative arts and hands-on conservation projects." They produce a youth art program, an urban forest restoration project and the Arts~in~Nature Festival, and I was so impressed! There was as amazing youth spoken word artist and the projects and classes they do are pretty incredible. It was inspiring.

When we got home we made lunch and started talking about our land. C had all these very specific ideas so we sat down and he drew out what he visualizes when he sees our land. I never knew he had such specific ideas - it was so fun to hear about. I started reading the how-to-layout-your-land section of the book, "Back to Basics," then we got distracted with thinking about our p-patch. We put air in our bike tires and rode the 11 or so blocks in the wind & rain. It felt truly amazing.

So the bikes were fun - and it was just warm enough today to be able to be outside in the garden (with long johns and rain coats, that is). We worked on removing the 6-12" of grass that's grown into the plot along the border, put down some organic fertilizer (on the half of the garden that was ready for it), and planted carrot seeds and pole beans. The seeds were a bit old, so we'll see what happens with that. And I'm pretty sure the soil is too cold. We'll see. Anyway I can't WAIT until the summer when we're able to harvest, although in the meantime it's already been really fun!

We came back just as it was getting dark (7:30!!), made dinner and are about to watch a movie. Not a bad day at all.

The title of this post includes seed bombs, which I did not participate in today. But I am currently scheming ways to use up my older seeds in neglected neighborhood plots, and have been trying to figure out a stealth way to remove the scotch broom tree on the corner house near the park. Stay tuned..

the travelin' train & elections

I'm loving my job, I do like to travel, but honestly it's starting to wear me out. Gone two weeks, back one. Gone 2 1/2 weeks, back one. Gone 10 days, back one week. Gone five days, back five days, gone four days, back a month, gone a week. This has been my schedule since September and will go through the new year. It's too much! And I work for a conservation organization concerned with low-impact practices, not to mention my own mission to reduce my "eco-footprint" on the world. So here I am, the last full day on the east coast for a while, planning out my next year, with a new goal to reduce the amount of traveling I do. Step one: stop doing trainings all over the country. When at all possible, I need to be able to train in Seattle, or at least much closer to home. Not always possible, but as long as I have the control over this, why not try?

In other news, it's been hard to be on the east coast away from friends and family during this historic election. I keep wanting to cry when I think of the possibilities. But I have to remember that I got swept up in this election - until fairly recently I felt that Obama and McCain were really just "different sides of the same coin." Which still remains to be proven wrong. But what if it's true? What if my parents can finally get affordable health insurance that doesn't force them to continue working when they should really get to enjoy a long-deserved retirement? What if my friends and family finally get legal rights to marry and have kids? Even with recent losses, I believe it is possible during this next administration.

I'm excited to have these conversations tomorrow night with my friends & family, back on my turf, with my husband, in our apartment. Home is indeed where the heart is.

back to Seattle plan

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Here's my plan so far to drive back to Seattle after our cruise. Stop to see Joy & Tom perform, maybe stop to see Tana, but otherwise straight up to Seattle. Should be a bit tiring!

back on the blogger train

SO glad to be home. I was at the Grand Canyon for the past two weeks running corps member training. What an amazing place, a ton of work, and inspiration. Too tired to write now but hopefully will get back on this blogger train.

Oh, and I'm off to go on my honeymoon in less than a week! Too excited - a road trip from Seattle to San Diego, visiting friends and amazing places along the way, then going on a cruise - yep a cruise. To Mexico, and I'm actually pretty damn excited about it.