Tuesday, July 21, 2009

I'm joining the Growing Challenge

One Green Generation is a great site with an ambitious but achievable mission to urge others to help create a sustainable planet. The plus for me personally is that Melinda offers challenges, and those who know me, know I cannot resist a challenge, from my hubby's doubt that I, as a new roller blader, could not roller blade from the suburbs of MD to the middle of DC (my legs paid for about 5 days, but it was worth it proving him wrong), or that I could be the chubby bunny winner at work (tip: you have to really squeeze the marshmallows against your teeth). You can modify the Growing Challenge to suit your gardening skill level, and can check out the site for more details.

My first year growing vegetables, I really had no clue what I was doing. I was trying to grow artichokes in zone 6 by putting a seed in the ground in June (really), and bought most of my plants at various stores. The second year, I started a few seeds at home with a little greenhouse kit. The third year, I got fancy and started using a heating pad for germination, grow lights, and a little pop-up coldframe to harden the plants off. This season marks my fourth year, and I think I've really got a system down now, and 100% of the plants in my little garden were started from seed. It's really something to be proud of!

Today I officially begin the Growing Challenge and have added a special twist to my own challenge. This fall, I will save my own seed to use next year. This is something I'm nervous about for a variety of reasons that involve my parents, my upbringing, and probably a psychologist, but we don't have the means for that in this blog. Anyway, I will do the research and set upon this challenge. Will you join me?

2 comments:

  1. Cool! I think I have radish seeds from two years ago from my very own radishes. Are they probably kaput by now? Your sister sounds like a pretty amazing chef!! :)

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  2. I think the germination rate goes down each year but you should still try! I've heard of a trick where you can put like 10 seeds or so in a wet paper towel and in a warm place and check in a few days to see how many seeds germinated. Neat trick I think! Yeah, my sister's a pretty hard core chef!

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