Starting From Seed

"And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree, yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so."

~The Bible 

I started on St. Patrick's Day weekend.  

Ever so thoughtfully, I purchased my seeds and planed how to arrange them in the rows and rows of squares.  I made sure to place the seeds at the proper depth and to provide the perfect amount of water and sunlight.

Somehow (somehow), it worked.

Truth be told, I'm very fortunate.  As it turns out, the window in my classroom practically creates a greenhouse effect for my precious seedlings and plants.  Combine the abundant light with a well-placed heating vent and I have the perfect recipe for germination.  

See, I wasn't kidding about the fortunate part.  Lucky me.

Therefore, about a month ago, a brought these munchkins home, as to acclimate them to the outside temperatures.  You see, it's very important to gently introduce seedlings to outside temperatures and conditions.  To have re-potted them and placed them outside would have stressed their fragile stems, leaves, and root systems.  

As you can imagine, it proved quite the theatrical number as I would run outside, in the dark, in my pajamas to bring them in for the night.  Because, as you can probably imagine, it wasn't until I was snug in my bed with the pillow perfectly fluffed and the warm quilt tucked under my chin that the notion hit me--"The herbs!"

Typical.

All of my antics wouldn't have been so bad if it weren't for the sweet old lady who lives behind us. You see, she lives alone and has 24 hour care and a constant stream of nurses watching over her-- who never sleep, just so you know.  I don't even allow myself to imagine what they must think of me.

None-the-less, the herb garden is in full swing.  I find particular delight in it this year, as almost everything I have planted I grew from seed.  

Let me just tell ya something.  Seeds, although more tender and difficult, are much cheaper than plants.  You can bet your bottom dollar that I'll be repeating this seed planing thing next year, and the year after that, and the--well you get the idea.

 This hummus- a crazy, improvised recipe- goes down as the first of many delicious treats from my little herb garden.