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plantoneonme
09-10-2008, 07:03 AM
Hi all! I am Kim and I live just outside of Detroit in SE Michigan. I work in the Intensive Care Unit as an RN which can be very stressful and find gardening a great stress reliever. I have always grown flowers but moved last September and decided to start with veggies again this year. I had to leave my beautiful perinneal beds behind that I worked on for over 20 years...but I still have plenty of access as my daughter and husband now live in that house!

It all "started again" (as the husband says) innocently enough by having fun with my 3 1/2 year old granddaughter, Jordan. I wanted to show her how seeds sprouted and then made plants (planets as she calls them). We did the old bean seeds on papertowels so she could see them sprout and later planted them. They grew into nice healthy plants and gave her lots of beans. I think it was because she talked to them and played with them...they were trees for her cars. We then branched out and started tomatoes, peppers and quite a few others (my first time from seeds) which later turned into needing a nice area to plant. Which grew into some nice raised beds and if we can talk grandpa into it, will expand again next spring. (My husband doesn't understand why we bother but sure does not complain when I slice up those juicy, fresh from the garden tomatoes.)

We are also saving seeds...again a first for me...and look forward to starting the whole process again in late winter with growing our own seedlings.

Happy gardening! Kim

Cynthia
09-10-2008, 09:53 AM
Glad you are here.
I love the story of your granddaughter playing with the plants as trees for her cars - that is a great image.

Seed saving is a very good thing indeed. There is even a group called The Seed Savers Exchange who keep heirloom seeds. What kind of seeds are you saving or planning to save?

plantoneonme
09-10-2008, 10:41 AM
So far we have saved several types of herbs, tomatoes, beans, peas, melons, pumpkin and ground cherries....plus lots of flowers. I have purchased seeds from SSE for years but decided to give a try at saving my own. My granddaughter is even a little seed snatcher! Got her started young LOL. Kim

AbbeyLehman
09-10-2008, 03:42 PM
Welcome, Kim!! The images of Jordan are neat, definitely! On another thread I posted about setting up a PVC stand for hanging upside-down plants in buckets on a PVC stand....I'll bet that would be a great "hidden garden" for her! See if you can talk Grandpa into putting up something similar for next year :)

Looking forward to hearing more from you!

plantoneonme
09-10-2008, 07:27 PM
Thanks for the idea Abbey. I was also thinking of plant sunflowers in a circle with pole beans growing up them as a hidden garden for her next year.

gardengirl72
09-12-2008, 07:07 PM
Kim, we are going to have to talk to Grandpa! Thank you for being a nurse as well. You know, I rarely manage to save my seeds like I should. You have inspired me to do that next year.

I love sunflowers, my husband thinks they're weeds, and growing the beans up the stalks would be super cool for fun. You could also mix a wee bit of heirloom corn in there. Imagine Grandpa's face when he eats Black Aztek corn. It is the best corn I have ever had and the kernels are black too!

AbbeyLehman
09-14-2008, 12:30 AM
Patti, is that Black Aztek corn a sweet corn or a dry corn? Where do you get it?

gardengirl72
09-14-2008, 10:11 AM
I get mine from www.rareseeds.com (http://www.rareseeds.com). It isn't dry, but it isn't sweet either. It is so good.