The Seed Miracle

It doesn't matter how many seeds I plant, I am blown away every time by what can only be described as a miracle. They come out of the packets hard, dry things -- some of them lumps (peas and beans), some of them specks (carrots), some of them smooth grains (arugala), some of them rough clumps (beetroot). You stick them in some soil, give them some water and shelter for a few days, and before you know it they've woken up, grown some roots and leaves, and they're off on their journey to the dinner plate.

That's the miracle at its most basic. That a tiny seed contains the intelligence to turn itself into a plant. All it needs is water, soil and a temperature it finds agreeable. But there are so many other miracles going on too.

Look at that plate of beans. The black ones are called Roquefort Dwarf, and yes, I did originally buy them only for their name. But they make the brightest yellow beans that taste so good steamed and tossed with butter and salt. They grow fast, they don't take up much room because they're dwarfs, and they produce an astounding number of beans on each plant. Each one of those seeds will produce I'd say 30 - 40 beans, each with at least six seeds inside.

The white ones are Berrgold Improved Dwarf. They also turn into yellow dwarf bean plants. I don't like the beans as much as Roquefort, but they are a great illustration of the subtle variety in the plant world, the indivuality. Start planting seeds and you'll quickly realise theres no such thing as a garden variety bean.

Starting Seeds

You can start seeds in any old container. Just make sure it's clean and has drainage. An over-watered seed will just rot. I buy organic seed raising mix from the garden shop. It's probably not necessary, but I do it anyway, thinking it's getting my future dinners off to the best possible start. Just fill your containers with the soil, lovingly tuck the seeds in (not too deep) and give them a good water. Then keep them sheltered and damp until...

After a week or two in damp soil, the beans swell and burst out of their skins. They also send a strong root out from one end -- I still haven't worked out which end -- and that root knows to grow down. No matter what way they're lying when you plant them, they'll twist and turn to get in the right position to grow. They're alive and moving.

Now that the root is established, the bean seed is going to split in half and send out some leaves.

Lettuce seeds don't make such a production. They start off as flattish oblong specks, and they sprout up a couple of leaves very quickly, and then settle down into turning themselves into salad. Salad garden planting 101 here.

I use the logic that big seeds (peas, beans, pumpkin, cucumbers and the like) should be planted one to a pot. But the tiny seeds can be sprinkled in together. Seems to work.

Planting On or Out

If you keep a close eye on the seedlings, you'll know when they're ready to be planted on. They will have stopped looking like babies, and turned into adolescents. And you'll be able to see their roots growing out the bottom of the pot. Whether you move them up to a bigger pot, or put them outside in the ground, really depends on the weather and the plants. If you don't have a clue, the seed packages will guide you.

This fava bean was well ready for the garden. I planted the seed in a toilet roll centre, wrapped in a bit of newspaper. It's a very good way to recycle those rolls, and they're just perfect for all sorts of seeds.

I usually just plant the whole toilet roll in the ground, but for the purposes of this post, I opened one up. How cool is that root system?

All those tentacles reach into the soil and suck up nutrients for the rest of the plant. The leaves collect what they need from the sun, and the whole plant becomes a mean bean making machine. This all happens in a few short months. Nothing short of astounding.

The other way to get plants in your garden without all this palaver is to let a few go to seed every season. I've experimented with that technique, and now have lettuces, radicchio, coriander, parsley and sweet peas growing wild all over the garden. That's a different sort of miracle. But I'm too keen on the seed catalogs and the pleasure of planting and watching seeds progress from seed pack to dinner plate -- I won't be giving that up in a hurry.