GARDENING – Page 11 – Skelton Sketches

Seedtime

Posted on May 16, 2013April 29, 2017 by lindaskelton

I have in fact no new pictures this week, but seeing as it is time for the planting of seeds, I thought I would re-post a favorite set of pictures. If you’re a green thumb and game to do some guessing, please take a stab at what’s what in my macro seed collection. Pictures are greatly magnified thanks to my very handy husband. Enjoy!

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OK, so I think seeds are pretty cool. I save them every year in hopes of planting them come spring… pretty cool, but not really very pretty. Well, I had another look this week and Behold what wonders God hath wrought!!

What do you think this is?!

No, not a peppercorn. In fact it’s only the size of a pencil point…

Or consider this fleck:

A lizard toenail? Or a seed the size of a ground pepper flake?

Here we have same color, whole new shapeliness. Again, picture pepper…

Our next candidate may be more familiar–think sweet smelling fragrance but really only a fraction the size of a pea:

This one looks like a neighbor, only sleeker and smoother and found in the wild on a very rainy afternoon.

But these are getting boring. Now for something completely different, and no, it’s not a seashell!

In fact it’s only the size of a pencil eraser in diameter… Can you guess it?

Our next candidate re-seeds itself prolifically in my garden though I continue to save quantities of these pointy seeds just case. They are similar in size to a Grape Nut (or a grape seed for that matter)!

Here’s an innocuous little fellow, not an avocado though. Think tiny black speck again, like pepper. And it grows in the warmth of the greenhouse with the green peppers. Mmmm…. love the smell.

OK, here’s one I don’t even know. It may be a #2 that snuck it’s way into the wrong bucket but will have to remain a mystery till it shows its stuff… Pretty cool shape anyway.

But the scariest one is yet to come, are you ready?

#10

Oooo, hairy too! I didn’t see the hairs till magnified. Good thing people grind these up before they eat them! Look carefully and you may recognize this one. It’s roughly the size of a peppercorn…

And last but not least, here’s the one that got us started on this macro-scopic journey. Who’d have known that such a seed, making such an exotic flower and such an ornate pod, would itself be so cool.

#11

This one is also edible, seen on muffins, bagels and etc…

Here’s the pod it comes from:

And that’s the collection to date!

Care to guess what’s what? The possibilities (not in the correct order!) are as follows:

a) Basil

b) Sweet Pea

c) Kale

d) Sweet William

e) Poppy

f) Yellow Lupine

g) Cilantro/Coriander

h) Hollyhock

i) a tall perennial with feathery spikes of purple flowers that I have yet to learn the name of!!

j) the mystery one I have to plant to see if it’s just another #2

k) Swiss Chard!

And just to encourage you to try, there will be a seedy reward for the grand winner who correctly matches the most seeds with their respective plants…

Submit your guesses in the Comment Box at your leisure.
Thanks for playing ( ;

–LS

“He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God.” (IICor.9:10,11)

Starting with Seeds…

Posted on April 18, 2013April 30, 2017 by lindaskelton

Then God said, “Look! I have given you every seed-bearing plant throughout the earth…” Gen.1:29

[Maple tree in bloom]

And that’s how this cherry tree came to be all on its own in my flower garden (and former compost pile!):

Then there is horsetail with its spores and incorrigible rhizomes ever spreading and sprouting… But this is an exotic specimen, don’t you think?!

Speaking of seeds… it’s that time again (even a little late?!), to get the tomato seeds planted, but first for the pots. I discovered this super simple, no frills, no saving/storing/cleaning pots method:

Got Newspaper?

Choose the size and shape of your pot from any old jar or can. I chose a cute square jar this year. I love it that it never rolls away while I’m working with it!

Now roll it up in a lengthwise sheet of paper folded in on the long edges to fit your jar, with an inch or two to spare at the bottom…

Secure it with tape.

Upend your jar/can and fold in the bottom ends…

And Voila!

Your very own pot for starting seeds!

Huddle your clever pots in a waterproof container. Add potting soil and seeds. Label with permanent marker and water liberally from the bottom…And one day there will be seedlings ready for transplanting out of these compostable pots. Works like a charm. No pots to clean. No muss, and just a little fun fuss.

Meanwhile, I love the plants that just pop up and bloom unannounced when their time to shine comes—among the first to brave the chill of spring—forget-me-nots and yellow alyssum.

And that’s what’s happening at my house!

–LS

They smell?

Posted on March 14, 2013April 30, 2017 by lindaskelton

I learned something new this week—snowdrops have a scent. It’s not easy to notice. They hover just inches from the ground tucked under the branches of our currant bush…but a friend said they smell, so I went straightway out and selected a blossom to sample.

And what do you know?! They have the freshest, lightest scent of spring, of green things rising, of promise that winter’s spell is broken…

And so we wait….

through days of rain and some of sun…

And I find that though I thought I’d whipped winter this year—not gotten sick, not succumbed to the blues, not even paid much heed to wind or weather… that just maybe the hardest part of winter is the part just before spring truly comes. Hopes are stirred by the odd sunny day. Expectations rise. And suddenly it’s hard to wait after all and maybe I am a little glum….

That’s when every little whiff of spring helps—

“For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience…”

“May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy…” Col.1:11

And maybe this old hymn will hit the spot for you as it has for me this week:

Joyful, joyful we adore Thee,
God of glory, Lord of love,
Hearts unfold like flowers before Thee,
Opening to the sun above.
Melt the clouds of sin and sadness,
Drive the dark of doubt away;
Giver of immortal gladness,
Fill us with the light of day.
–Henry Van Dyke

–LS