Wendy on Sprouting Seeds

Planting Peppers

Last year at this time I planted a couple of types of flowers, tomatoes and peppers.  The tomatoes got a bit leggy, so I am holding off another couple weeks for them. I already have pea shoots, rocket, broccoli sprouts and basil growing.  I'll be eating the pea shoots I planted again for supper tonight, and if I'd like to be eating my own peppers for supper in Saskatchewan, it is time to plant them.

How to plant indoors:

• Soak peat pellets in boiling water or fill small pots with a peat and soil mixture (I use pellets but they are less environmentally sustainable)
• When the soil is damp and cool, make a small hole with the end of a pencil or chopstick.  Check the seed package for the depth of the hole
• Drop in two seeds.  You will pull or snip on of the two plants in they both grow, but I use organic seed, so one seed in five doesn't sprout
• Cover over the seeds with the dirt you pushed to the side with the pencil and pat lightly
• Place tray under grow light or in very sunny south window (I am using my grow table)

Peppers need a minimum of 8 weeks indoors before planting time in most parts of Canada.  Mine will need 2-3 weeks more, and most will live on my south walls, patio or in the greenhouse where the heat is most intense.  Without that, I could grow pepper plants, but would never harvest more than the first pepper off of them. As it is, I will fertilize the first blossoms by hand so I can eat multiple peppers off the bell pepper plants.

This year I planted organic 12 green bell peppers and 12 yellow bell peppers.  I also planted 6 mini peppers and 6 of the hot chilies I liked so much last year.  I will buy one jalapeno pepper (I only use one plant, so the bedding plant is cheaper than the seed in that case).

I will mist my peppers every few days and re-pot them once before I put them in the garden. 

Lost along the way.

Here it is, the day before the realtor comes to take new photos of the completed work on our house. It has been a blur of a year so far, with washing, sanding, patching, and painting being the default activities between family and occasional substitute teaching. As I move in that armsore-and-underslept-but-determined-and-industrious way from room to room, from backyard to garage, beautifying, organizing, "putting right what once went wrong..." I cross paths with old friends: - The K'nex tower I had Molly build me based upon my design specifications for homemade sprouting shelves. - The small modified ice-cream pail that is home to half of my clew of red wiggler vermicomposting worms perched atop the very large Rubbermaid bin that houses the other half. - Bags and trays of materials for constructing homemade musical instruments. - Several years' worth of seeds (purchased, begged, harvested in the field, and saved from previous crops) that await news of a change in residence (and garden access) before I can start any of them. - Books on terrariums, greenhouses, prairie xeriscaping, and after-dinner gardening. - Stacks of restaurant-size ice cream pails rescued for self-watering planters. - Pots of outdoor plants brought indoors for the harrowing race between the arrival of spring and the annual infestation of white flies and aphids. - Jars of lovingly rinsed, dried, and ground eggshells awaiting warm soil. - Thirty-some rejected water cooler jugs saved for any number of projects from classroom music to plastic domes for garden plants. - The energy monitor that requires some tech support to become truly functional in the way I'd like it be. - The rain barrel that broke its homemade stand last summer and has since languised at ground level, where its water is virtually inaccessible. - Stashes of unwashed bags that have become too dauntingly numerous to attack until a warm and sunny clothesline is available. This time of year is difficult on its own, but layer on house renovations, and getting to any of the worthwhile projects I have sharing my physical and mental space feels impossible. I'm hoping this acknowledgement of all that there is to say will obligate me to return here to comment at length when the "home staging" is accomplished and I make time to look toward the spring and its unending possibilities. - James

Climate Idol families in Thunder Bay and Duluth

http://www.tbnewswatch.com/video/21124/Climate-Idol

Families are getting involved in a similar project in Ontario! To check their progress, see www.climateidols.org/

Biomimicry

Here are the TED Talks

http://www.ted.com/talks/michael_pawlyn_using_nature_s_genius_in_architecture.html?utm_source=newsletter_weekly_2011-02-16

http://www.ted.com/talks/janine_benyus_biomimicry_in_action.html

Biomimicry

Here are a couple of interesting TED Talks on biomimicry - using natural models for the most efficient and sustainable designs. Fascinating follow up links
http://www.asknature.org/
http://www.biomimicryguild.com/

Wind Energy in Ontario

Here is some information on the growing adoption of wind energy in Ontario.

http://www.canwea.ca/media/release/release_e.php?newsId=109

Sprouting Day 6

Alfalfa=done -- Quinoa=just begun

Just a quick note to finish things off. This morning is 5 full days of sprouting (for the alfalfa), or the beginning of day 6 in the lives of these little green guys. Yesterday I gave them their final rinse and left them near a window (and under the light we use to keep our spices living). They greened up nicely. They went into the fridge yesterday evening and this is what we had for breakfast this morning. Whole wheat tortilla, light dill cream cheese, 1 Tbsp cheddar, eggs (with extra whites) and our sprouts.

The grow table is also doing well. I think we will have to put the fan on soon. It will keep the air circulating and keep the new plants from being prone to falling over.

Broccoli    --    Basil    --    Lettuce

Pea shoots

Sprouting Day 3

Alfalfa on the 7th (after 1 day)

O.K. I started these sprouts on the 6th. Today is the 9th.

Alfalfa on Feb 9th (after 3 days)

I've been rinsing them twice a day and they are starting to look really great. If you were in a rush, you could already eat them. I'll wait, since they will probably still double in size. I'll start a batch of Quinoa seeds sprouting today to keep the rotation going.

Peas (after 3 days)

Here are the peas, just laying on top of the potting soil. I've kept a plastic cover over them to maintain the humidity and sprayed them with water a few times. I'm going to turn the light on them today since I want them to start producing leaves.

Why A Grow Table?

peas and broccoli--for greens, not the garden

soaked peas spread on potting soil

So, as you know, the grow table is up. I'm currently sprouting, so the lights aren't on yet, but I realized that I didn't know how much it was costing in electricity to run this grow-op in my basement once it is in full swing. I was pleasantly surprised. I pay about 11.5 cents/kWh for electricity and my table has 4x 40W "gro-light" bulbs. My electric timer will instigate an enviable 14/10hr day/night cycle. A little math indicates that I am paying about $0.26/day or $8.10/month. I will run the lights for 3 months coming out to $24.30 for electricity consumption. I almost forgot that you will have some fixed costs associated with setting up a table. We were given ours by a family that had used it for 30 years or more. If you shopped at the ReStore or other budget sources, I expect you could make a small table for $30. New, You might be looking at $50-60. All you really need is fluorescent light with gro-bulbs and rope to hang it with. To get fancy you would build a 2x4 construction table and get some pulleys for variable height on your lights. So, if $$ are your main concern, you may not see savings until next year, depending on what you grow. For us, it is clearly a cost savings over buying all the starter plants that we managed to produce. Below is a picture of our green house last May with SOME of the things we started on the grow table.

our greenhouse in early May, 2010

Putting that aside. I don't even think that is the most beneficial part to me. February is a brutal month in Saskatchewan. The cold, the low light and wilted produce leave me feeling drab, to say the least. Over the next few weeks I will be waking up and going into the bright warmth of our little growing space. It smells moist and earthy. Things are growing. Winter will be over in this little haven. To me, there are no dollar signs big enough for such an equation.

Let There Be Sprouts

We have brought our grow table out of the garage and set it up in our basement. This will be our 3rd attempt and things went very well last year. I thought about you guys immediately and decided to try and post an as-it-happens series. If anyone has been daunted by sprouting or starting your own seeds, this could be a chance to leap in and make some mistakes. Also, we are highly experimental and would love feed-back if you have questions or ideas to contribute, please do.

a low cost operation

Sprouts are a great activity to try in the winter. They take up next to no space, the consequences of failure are exceedingly small, and they provide a great learning opportunity for adults and kids. Did I mention that they are super healthy and delicious? You could be eating your own sprouts THIS WEEK if you start now :)

I'm starting you off with alfalfa. It is cheap, easy to sprout and has a nice, neutral, fresh green taste. You can diversify into all kinds of sprouting, eventually. My seeds came from Dad's Nutrition Centre on 8th St.

I've put 2 tablespoons of seed into a 1L pickle jar (you could use just about anything, but clear is best). Add enough water to cover them. Let them sit in the dark for several hours. I put mine on top of the fridge since the warm air from the coils makes it a bit warmer than the rest of our chilly house.

style counts!!!

After the seeds sit for a few hours (over night is better), start the rinsing cycle. I've taken a spare piece of nylon screen (cheese-cloth would work) and hold it on with a stylish pink rubber band recovered from the broccoli we buy. Dump the water out, rinse and let drain. You will want to rinse them a couple of times a day (three if you have any molding issues). It takes about 10 seconds so remembering is really the tricky part. Whatever works with your schedule--Before and after work then before bed would be lots.

My seeds draining into a glass bread pan

That's it! Rinse them for 4-7 days. how long will depend on temperature. When they are fluffy and filling your container give them a final rinse. If you don't want to eat the unsprouted seeds, you may remove the spouts from the jar for the final rinse. Let them sit their last day on a sunny window, or under your grow light (that's why you wanted a clear container). This lets the leaves green up and adds some great nutrition. Then just pop them in the fridge or eat them on the spot.

If you eat them a lot, start a batch every 3-4 days. They are great on hot-dogs/tofu-dogs, salads, sandwiches, even some soups.

Wendy on Growing in February

It's February, a dark and depressing month.  If you live in Saskatchewan like I do, it will be late May before you are eating your first crops out of the ground.  Now is a great time to be growing a few things indoors.  My favorites are herbs, sprouts and lettuces (see what I started last year).

Sprouts
These are my favorites to grow in the winter. The method is easy and you don't need to have a window for them to grow.  Plus, they have a lot of nutrition in them for their small size, and they taste great because they are fresh. My favorites are pea shoots, but I also like quinoa and bean. There are places to buy whole sprouting kits, but we just use a glass pickle jar and some mesh. They are also a really fast crop.

Herbs:
I bring my herbs in at the end of each fall and eat them over the winter. My oregano usually gets aphids by December (and did this year) but my mint and rosemary grow well.  Look for herbs that are cold tolerant and grow them in a south facing window that is well sealed from cold.  I don't have that, so I grow them in a cold north window with the help of a grow light. Even with all that support, basil and other sun-lovers don't make it through the winter.

Lettuces:
I usually start these when I put my grow table up over February break. Lettuce is great because, like sprouts, you can harvest it more than once.  When my lettuce is a little over 20 cm tall, I cut it back to about 8 am and eat all the baby leaves.  You can cut and come back for more as often as you like when it is growing well. If you don't have a grow light, Feb. is too early to start lettuce well unless you have a very sunny window - you need to have heat and light for longer than you get them in a sunny Saskatchewan day through a window this time of year.

Are you thinking about growing indoors this year?

Wow!

This is great! I am glad to see that the blog is up and running. Thanks Mike and Wendy for your hard work and commitment to creating this blog!
Natalie & Shayne

Michael on "Thanks for the blog and the study"

Thanks to Wendy and Mike for setting up this blog. It is our window into the environmental movement in Saskatoon and beyond. I look forward to learning lots from it. And thanks to Shannon for all the work on the study. Lisa, Jasmine, Gabriel, Noah, Jonas and I were all delighted to be a part of the study. We met some great and inspiring people and we hope to keep in touch.

Now for a treat - Are mushrooms the new plastic? http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/eben_bayer_are_mushrooms_the_new_plastic.html

Shannon on "As the Research Comes to a Close":

As I walked home from my last research interview yesterday night, I was in high spirits as I reflected on completing what I felt to be an amazing study. But accompanying my gratification was a lingering sense of sadness that all had come to an end.

I have loved getting to know all of you throughout the past 5 months. I really enjoyed the stories, experiences, and views you shared (with and without my computer recording us in the background!) and I feel fortunate to be able to keep those conversations alive through the writing of my thesis. This past 5 months has been a great journey and, in many ways, I wish it wasn’t coming to an end! But I suppose endings are just new beginnings, so I look forward to what our next chapters will bring.

Again, it was wonderful working with all of you! I look forward to keeping in touch and learning about the steps you’re all taking to live more sustainably :)