Friday, March 1, 2013

Gardens Start!

March 1st Onion and Leek Planting day!

This is my Method

I use window boxes.  2 for onions and 1 for leeks
I start with a layer of newspaper and perlite.
Then I add my planting mix (will blog about my "dirt" soon!)
Soak the soil thoroughly with several waterings and let sit.
Dry the planters & set on the window sills.
 Now Plant!

 I sprinkle a generous amount of seeds on the soil.  I will thin and eat some of the babies.  Also, I will have extra seedlings to give away.  Onion seeds do not keep well.  I buy the smallest packet and plant the lot & then share! 
I like Prince and Copra Onions.  They have a wonderful flavor and keep very well in my cold room. 
 I VERY much prefer seedlings to sets.  So much nicer onions.
 My leeks are older seed this year...want to use them up...I am leaving it to fate...if they germinate we will have leeks...if not more time for something else!
 Sprinkle a little more dirt and water a bit.
 Not a big fan of using plastic...but... it does keep the seeds moist and the cat off the planter!
Finally a blessing.  I take the time to send Reiki and Gratitude.

And Finally, Finally...

A poem by Pablo Neruda

Ode To The Onion

Onion,
luminous flask,
your beauty formed
petal by petal,
crystal scales expanded you
and in the secrecy of the dark earth
your belly grew round with dew.
Under the earth
the miracle
happened
and when your clumsy
green stem appeared,
and your leaves were born
like swords
in the garden,
the earth heaped up her power
showing your naked transparency,
and as the remote sea
in lifting the breasts of Aphrodite
duplicating the magnolia,
so did the earth
make you,
onion
clear as a planet
and destined
to shine,
constant constellation,
round rose of water,
upon
the table
of the poor.

You make us cry without hurting us.
I have praised everything that exists,
but to me, onion, you are
more beautiful than a bird
of dazzling feathers,
heavenly globe, platinum goblet,
unmoving dance
of the snowy anemone

and the fragrance of the earth lives
in your crystalline nature.

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