I’ve been

I’ve been
outside planning
pulling plotting
stacking soaking
seeds peat pots
and pellets

This is a grow from seed year
last year I bought plants
on sale at the end of season
scratch and dent discontinued
and clearance sections
at local greenhouses

Growing plants by seed
is an acquired taste
You will get used to
1. low germination rates
2. death by hungry catepillars
3. overwatered seeds
that cause root rot
4. spindly light seeking
seedings that grow tall
then pass out and die from
the weight of their seed leaves (cotyledons)
5. death of a seedling by boiling and finally
6. death by dehydration by forgetting to water your plants
because it was cool in the morning when you left the house the soil felt damp and you wrongly thought that it would stay below 95 degrees today because the weather channel has no more clue about the weather than you do.
(I appreciate the weather channel, I have a fond place in my heart for Dick Goddard American Meteorological Society Television Seal Holder #45. I grew up watching him on Channel 8 when I lived in Cleveland as a child. He was on tv doing the weather for 55 years, but retired in 2016. The weather we have been having here in Ohio this past two weeks has been beyond bizarre. Cool and overcast, hot in the 90’s, then raining sideways like a monsoon for fifteen minutes, then sunny as if it never happened, with different weather in the next town over ten miles away.)

Once you kill your seedlings
in every conceivable way
that I have in the past
you will be a novice gardener
for the rest of your life
as temperature, water quirks,
seed age (decreasing your germination rate)
what happened to your seeds on the way to you in the mail (how many heated trucks were they transported in) did you store them in a box next to a heat vent during the winter and any number of unforeseen events contribute to the demise of your next season’s seedlings (If it snows in August I’m screwed.)

Something keeps eating
my Bachelor’s Buttons
but not the Borage
Why eat the toxic
plant when an edible one
sits right next to it

Today I learned that
(thank you internet)
Bachelor’s buttons are
edible It seems to be
an edible garnish
that tastes like grass

Bachelor’s Buttons

The slug bug or chipmunk
that ate the seedlings was right
the flower is non toxic
I hope it tastes good
though I’ll never know

Have fun gardening and do what I do dump packs of seeds in the soil, document the location and be pleasantly surprised that they survived. I like the odds

Edible flowers

Do I need to write that
you should check and double check
the plants before you start eating them

Some blossoms are only edible if
you have found the perennial plant
not the annual plant blossom

It’s a good idea to do research
on your plants before
jumping off the deep end and
having a house party where you
serve poisonous wild mushrooms
and toxic medicinal herbs that

may have negative interactions with
your aunt’s heart medication
cousin Grace’s blood pressure meds
and Grandma’s anti depressant
anxiety cocktail

Also refrain from eating flowers
from plants that have been
sprayed with pesticides

Double check your references
there are tons of medicinal herb books
out there including this old one:
The Natural Remedy Bible or
The Herb Book
by John Lust

Check the library, internet or thrift stores

chamomile

squash blossoms

nasturtium flowers

nasturtium leaves

borage
calendula

kale in the background

The leaves are cilantro, but the dried seeds are coriander.

lavender
celery
pansy

basil

mallow

Varigated hosta and bee balm

Chives with Buttercup leaves

There are more edible flowers
search for it on the internet
or click this link right here

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