Breaking in new help is always a challenge, especially when it is my granddaughter Olivia. 🥰
Mid-March is when I need to start up my seedlings for the Spring. The first batch is a combination of microgreens, herbs (oregano, basil, thyme, stevia) for my horticultural therapy classes and some greens to put into the cold frames.
Juana and Olivia are at the ready in front of a 1020 tray with empty planting cells in need of soil. Olivia uses a combination of a spoon and her hands to move the soil from the mixing bowl to the tray. Her arms and hands are soon coated with a patina of soil. She cares little, clapping her hands, displacing the excess.
Juana and her take the piles of soil on top of the tray and smooth it out ready for planting. I fill a hand seeder with tiny oregano seeds to spread on the first set of cells. Olivia wants to help, but her frenetic use scattters seeds everyplace but their intended spots.
She does better with the microgreens tray. She smooths the damp soil, moving her arms in tiny concentric circles like a pair of airplane propellers. Then taking slightly larger seeds from a dish, Olivia picks them up delicately depositing them on the surface. A slight addition of soil on top completes the task.
Soon we are finished with our four trays of seedlings and I bring them upstairs to warm above the heating mats and sit below my grow lamp. When Olivia visits us the next time, I will show her how much the seeds have grown.
I can’t wait.
