24/03/2025
Starting seeds is one of my favorite tasks and practices in flower farming. Here we start 90% of our plants from seeds. It’s a way to get a head start on the growing season and allows me to experiment with different varieties, and even the process itself is deeply satisfying—even magical.
I once heard Liz Migliorelli of Sister Spinster say on a podcast (and I’m paraphrasing):
“All magic is what brings you into connection with the natural world, and plant magic is the act of being in relationship with plants in a way that transforms our lives—the plants are the vessel through which transformation, change, or revolution comes about.
All magic is how we are in kinship with the world around us.”
There’s something about nurturing a seed indoors that feels like I’m actively developing a kinship with—watching the tiny sprout push through the soil, its leaves forming into miniature versions of what will eventually erupt into a verdant, fully fledged, flourishing plant.
Sowing seeds feels like casting little spells. It’s the beginning of a reciprocal, collaborative relationship with plants and the cyclical rhythms of nature, seeing them through their beginnings to their inevitable ends.
We start seeds all throughout the year, but March is the biggest month for seed starting here. Seeds that have been started as early as January and are being transplanted to the field this week include foxglove, pansies, scabiosa, and Icelandic poppies. Meanwhile, fall-sown varieties are thriving—larkspur, sweet peas, and agrostemma. Lots of seeds that like the cold are being direct-seeded into the field now too—bachelor buttons, calendula, mignonette, orlaya. And soon, all the heat-loving varieties like zinnias and celosias will crowd every available space in the seedling chamber.
