From Little Things Big Things Grow

SOWN SEEDS - DAY ONE

Venturing into the world of packet seeds is like gazing into a garden of endless possibilities. There are so many from which to choose, ranging from the humble potato to mysterious sounding things like amaranth and mizuna. After spending about 4ominutes perusing through almost every packet on display and speed-reading through planting instuctions, we finally purchased just four types of seed. (How restrained, right?) They were Climbing Beans (Blue Lake), Nasturtium (Trailing), Pak Choi (Hei Xia F1) and Snow Peas (Climbing).

As these were our first packets of store-bought seeds, my boyfriend planted with great care, all four varieties in used seedling trays. Just SIX DAYS later... Behold how they have grown! (Even though most of the seed packets say germination takes 7-10 days). Seed actually began to sprout on the third day in most cases, with the exception of the Nasturtium (14-21 days).

We chose this as we currently have no beans growing in our garden, and apparently they grow well most of the year in tropical climate. We also wanted a climber which will help cover our bare fence, AND at the same time give us nutritious food. Win-win!

CLIMBING BEAN (Blue Lake)

I didn't think Snow peas would grow well here even though I love eating them. My boyfriend seemed determined however, to get them to grow. Here's hoping he succeeds!

SNOW PEA (Climbing)

Pak Choi is such a versatile vegetable in Asian cooking. I chose it because of this reason, and also because I know it will grow in this climate. (My next-door neighbour grows it in proliferation.) In the same pic are also capsicum seedlings which we grew from collected (not store-bought) seeds.

PAK CHOI (Hei Xi F1)

Finally I have included a picture of the sweet mint seedling we bought, as I forgot in a previous entry. I decided to grow it in a pot as I have heard mint loves to take over any area of the garden in which it is planted. I have never really cooked with mint, but it's one of those handy kitchen herbs.

SWEET MINT

Pics of the nasturtium to follow when they finally sprout.