This year is bringing many transitions in my home. One of the exciting changes is that I am moving away from producing vegetables on my farm (I prefer to show others how to grow their own) towards building up a medicinal herb nursery (to compliment the wild medicinal herbs I gather from my region). The first steps in this transition was ordering seed. I have sourced the herbs that I would like to start my nursery with. Some of the herbs I am growing right now include…
Rhodiola
Sage
Astragalus
Arnica
Calendula
Lavender
And a whole bunch more.
These seeds are being started indoors to give them a head start. Many herbs (especially perennials) need a longer growing season than we typically have this far north. I have these seedlings on a shelf that is placed above a heater vent.
Those that have sprouted already are under a light as we are still under the shroud of winter for a couple more months.
Moving away from food production to begin growing herbs is a natural choice for me. My first degree was in Homeopathy and have been making herbal medicines for my family for over a decade.
Over the coming two years I will be expanding by herbal stock and will focus greatly on plants that are native to my region. These herbs will be sold each spring as seedlings. Any that I don’t sell will be dried to make medicine.
To start seeds indoors I use seeding trays (I prefer 288’s or 104’s for starting herbs). I use a finely sifted sterile starter. After the second true leaves appear I begin to fertilize the seedlings using H202 and rabbit manure to create a compost tea.
Rabbit manure is an amazing fertilizer that will not burn your seedlings with too much nitrogen.
As I mentioned, the trays are kept in a warm place. I have reusable clear plastic sheets that I use to cover the trays after watering to keep moisture in. Once the seeds have sprouted, I stop covering the seeds with this plastic, however, it won’t hurt them if you use it to continue to cover when some have sprouted and others aren’t up yet.
These herbs will be repotted into 6 pack trays that they will be sold in, or kept in until they are planted outdoors.
As the season progresses I look forward to sharing updates and posts on making medicines with these herbs and others that I collect wild.
From my home fire to yours, hai hai.
great tutorial! those seedlings look happy :D
i grew astragalus last year - so satisfying...
this year i'm also growing calendula, arnica, and lavender -- great ones with a common soothing theme! happy growing <3
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Thank-you! As my herb repertoire expands I hope to be able to share more detail on growing each. For now I am building slowly and getting to know each one. Yes, the astragalus was one of the first to germinate...the first green for me this year. Very satisfying indeed <3
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Oh how much do I love those tidy rows of babies standing small and tall!! <3 <3 <3
So happy for this transition for you! I plan on learning so much from you in the medicinal world!
I will have to look into the manure tea for fertilizing, maybe I need rabbits too??!? ;)
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I know!!! Soooooo pretty. I have started my onions now too. Soon some tomatoes and peppers!
Yes...manure tea (compost tea) is amazing. You know...I used to raise rabbits for meat. And, they are delicious...but now that I raise bigger animals it seems like a lot of work for much less reward.....except their magical time release fertilizer pellets! lol Soooooo wonderful in the garden.
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I started my first herb garden last year and have plans to expand this year. I have been drinking herbal teas for medicinal reasons and they are working.
I can't wait to start the seedlings and then transplant out in the greenhouse in six weeks.
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That's fantastic! Yes, I'm a fan of teas. It feels like such a wonderful reminder of the summer when we are locked in snow and can sip on some herbs or berries we grew. Yes! The anticipation is growing for sure! The days are getting longer and longer. I love the return of the sun <3
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That looks already very nice. Good luck with your fine plants!
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Why thank-you! And I wish you the very best with everything you are growing in your life, plant, idea, relationships and otherwise.
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Why thank-you! <3
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