MY FIRST ADVENTURE PLANTING SEEDS

I was raised by a mother who loves gardening. As a kid, we moved around a lot, and we always had a garden.

I grew up peering into ruffly peonies, fluorescent fuschia and exotic water hyacinths. I munched on snap peas and plucked fresh beans off the vine. I piled handfuls of fresh raspberries into my mouth.

My Mom has a green thumb and green fingers. She can pinch and prod plants. She’s not even particularly gentle with them and they seem to swoon and flourish in her presence.

My spiritual teacher used to tell me: "Don't touch the plants. You have too much fire element."

I figured the fire element is exactly what you need for making healing remedies that burn out impurities, incinerate what isn't needed and warm up the heart.

However! Everything in life changes.

This past year I took a gardening class – sort of by accident – and I met a woman named Susan, who inspired me to play in the dirt. After listening to her wax poetic about gardening for a couple hours, I was totally sold.

We're here in the desert, and it's harder to grow things (literally, the earth has so much clay that sometimes you can’t even get a shovel into it!). The dirt certainly isn’t rich & black like in the Midwest, where I grew up as a kid.

I wouldn’t have guessed it, but in the desert there are FOUR growing seasons, which makes it pretty dynamic!

You can grow all different kinds of things, in each of the four seasons.

So I scrounged up some wooden containers and planted some beets and lettuce.

I then ordered what I thought was a handful of red onions online, and 60 baby red onions arrived!

Now I joke that I'm a red onion farmer.

I have an entire container of flourishing red onions.

I planted a ton of seeds in as many pots as I could – of wild flowers, edible flowers, and rare ones I wanted to make flower essences from.

Planting seeds in dirt is a magical process in itself.

It teaches patience.

Most people plant from starts (little plants). Someone's already grown the plants from seed, making it easy to transplant them right into the ground.

From the seed, it takes a lot longer.

You see the sprouts come up. You watch everything grow and … eventually it flowers.

Over time, you realize which of your seeds took really well, what's a strong plant and what's a weaker plant. Or where the seasonal timing was just off.

There's a lot of observation.

And a lot of watering.

Some seeds you plant and you really want them to sprout, and they just don't.

Other seeds grow like crazy and totally take over a pot – you have to transplant them because they bossily take over the entire space.

I learn so much from just watching how things grow.

In my teeny tiny garden, I’ve watched the whole process from seed to growth and blossoming. I’ve got some favs still in progress.

I’m particularly excited about the Black Irises – they're doing pretty well. I hope they flower!

A fair amount of seeds that I planted are not flourishing at all. I planted a variety of poppies and they’ve grown about 3 millimeters in the last 3 months. ; )

Of all the seeds I planted, ONE Double Blue Pea sprout popped up; that'll be interesting to watch.

The Borage is a beast. It’s taken over a few pots, necessitating transplants.

I’m enjoying the variety of colors of Nasturtium (Black Velvet, Cherry Rose Jewel, Fiery Orange). As edible plants, you can eat both the flowers and the leaves! Such a fun pop of color in a salad.

Over the last few months, I’ve shared fresh lettuce salads with my family and we’re still eating fresh beets and beetgreens.

It’s fun to sprinkle home-grown, fresh Cilantro into soups, broths or on any dish!

Growing things is a great metaphor for life.

Some seeds take, some don't.

Work with what you have.

Be patient.

Tend to what you have consistently, and with care.

And then – all of a sudden, you’re surrounded by beauty.

If you were on the 2025 Wood Snake Year call, you’ll remember that this is a year for:

1. Getting your hands in the dirt.

2. Planting trees, flowers, veggies and whatever else inspires you.

3. Creating a [botanical] legacy: I love the Chinese proverb, The best time to plant a tree was ten years ago. The second best time is now.

And the practice of gardening – even just putting some seeds in a pot of dirt – will improve your health and mitigate challenging aspects of this year.

Love & flower petals,
Katie