It’s seed starting time!  I’d venture to say this is what we growers are live for!  Watching seedlings grow in the depths of winter is the best mood lifter.  Those of you in the Southern Hemisphere are likely gearing up for your late summer sowings for cool annuals too.  So it seemed like a great time to do a deeper dive into seed sowing with my old friend and seed starting pro, Lisa Mason Zeigler from the Gardener’s Workshop. 

Lisa literally wrote the book, called Cool Flowers, on starting seeds for early spring crops. She’s been flower farming for 25 years and runs a seed supply house.  She’s also the host of the Field & Garden podcast, which you should check out if you haven’t already. 

In this episode,  Lisa and I talk all about seeds.  Everything from seed storage tips to creating a living soil with natural inputs to even a bit about sowing by the biodynamic calendar.

 

If you’d like to get my written out Regenerative Seed Starting Mix Recipe, join the Regenerative Flower Farmers Network (RFFN) to download that today. 

 

Lots of links to share with this episode:

The New Organic Grower by Eliot Coleman

Seed Germination Theory and Practice by Dr. Norman Deno (free download)

Biodynamic Calendar (make sure to set your specific location for accurate days)

A study about the importance of the first few days of a seedling’s life and how they develop

Maxicrop (kelp product)

WCA (calcium input)

LAB (video on how to make it)

A study on worm castings enhancing germination

A study on worm castings improving disease resistance

TED talk on how bacteria “talk” with autoinducers

 

Past episodes mentioned in this conversation for further listening include:

Episode 21: BRIX with Dr. Tom Dykstra

Episode 15: Korean Natural Farming and JADAM in Flower Farming with Tony Gaetz of Bare Mountain Farm

Episode 16: Biodynamics with Erika and Ken from Teton Full Circle Farm

Episode 23: Bokashi and Worm Farming with Matt Arthur

 

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