The seeds

Starting a vegetable garden is yet another part of country living that I know very little about.

Because our growing season here on Prince Edward Island, in Canada, is pretty short, I’ve overheard discussions at the hardware store that lead me to believe that it’s wise to start your vegetable plants inside.

Feeling inspired, I bought a few seeds (brussel sprouts, roma tomatoes, watermelon, broccoli, and bell peppers), some earth, and a seed tray.

I chose these specific seeds because they take a long time to bear fruit/vegetables. They take between 70 – 90 days to go from tiny seed to edible brussel sprout, tomato, watermelon, broccoli, or pepper. Vegetables with shorter time requirements (ex: radishes, which can go from tiny seed to radish in as little as 25 days ) don’t necessarily need to be started indoors.

After I got home, I was so excited that I threw the seeds into the earth without giving it much thought: I ripped open the packages, buried one seed in the first small tray compartment, threw eight seeds in the next tiny compartment, and just generally randomly planted the seeds with little rhyme or reason.

After all the compartments were full, I realized that I’d neglected to keep track of which row had watermelons, which row had peppers, etc.

So there I was left with a nicely planted tray of random vegetables.

In retrospect, I think I neglected to keep track on purpose because I like surprises.

Seeds have been planted

It has been about a week now, and look at all the growth!

Starting to grow

Starting to grow

As you can see, there are a few slow-sprouters, but one variety is growing very quickly.

I was convinced that the fast grower must be watermelon, because the tips of the sprouts remind me of watermelon seeds.

Cameron guessed that the fast-grower was broccoli.

I haven’t looked into it any further because it’s fun to see what takes shape.

How can teeny tiny seeds become sprouts…who then become leafy…who then become the fruits and vegetables we know and love!?