Propagation Not Propaganda

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Avatar for JonicaBradley
2 years ago
Onion seeds I am propagating.

It seems like there is a ton of propaganda out there these days. Whether it's governments or billionaires, everyone seems to be pushing their agenda.

Until January of 2021, the head of the United States government was pushing the idea that wearing masks is unconstitutional. And then pushed the false claim that the election was stolen from him. He and others like him incited a riot by pushing their paranoid propaganda.

Elon Musk pushed the idea that BitCoin was THE coin. Until it wasn't. Doggie Coin was. But it wasn't. His own Billionaire propagandas furthering his own agendas. Maybe, one day, he will create something that won't explode when going down.

Other billionaires like Warren Buffet, are freaking out about crypto exchanges and wallets. Because people are taking money out of the banking system. This terrifies them because the way banks work is to take money from Peter Everyman and lend it to Paul. The banks charge Paul an exorbitant interest to pay back the loan. They are raking in the Benjamins! And they charge Peter a monthly fee for the privilege.

But now, crypto exchanges and wallets are taking away the income big banking has so come to rely on by allowing people to buy crypto with fiat money, taking it directly out of the bank's pockets.

So, Warren Buffett and his ilk are using "Crypto is a scam" propaganda to try to get the U.S. Government to regulate our favorite exchanges.

I get so tired of listening to people who are so stuck in the way it's always been trying to dictate the way they think it needs to be. They can't understand blockchain, proof of work, and proof of stake. I think their tired old brains can't process these concepts. So they push false information on the world who believes them because they are rich, so they must be smart.

Instead of stressing out about all the world's propaganda, I take little breaks and do some propagation. Actual propagation. With plants and seeds and dirt.

This article is going to share my dirty experiences with you. Prepare for lots of photos!

Let's start with my lazy helper.

Bok Tui. He just celebrated his 3rd birthday on May 7. He took some sort of dried weed and played with it all day while I was working super hard.

Earlier this year I started some seeds inside. I used a square tray with a clear plastic lid. Here in the U.S., these seed starter kits are available to buy at hardware stores and dollar stores.

Seed starter kit.

This is one brand. You can order it here. I got mine from the Ace Hardware Store. The dirt in the little round things is peat moss.

You have to soak the pellets until they are completely wet, pop the little seeds into them and cover them up with the plastic tray.

The peat will hold the moisture and the plastic tray holds the heat which also creates moisture as the mositure slowly evaporates from the soil. It is important to get good airflow by removing the plastic lid for a few hours a day. Otherwise the dirt will mold.

In a few days, you'll see baby sprouts.

I planted 2 rows of squash and planted the rest with scallion seeds. A few little squashes came up, but the onions only made tiny green things before disapearing.

My first baby squash seedling! So exciting!!

My husband's parents were visiting. When my mother-in-law saw the little round soil bundles, she thought they were chocolates at first. She asked me what kind of chocolates they were and whether I made them myself. She had a good laugh when I showed her the tiny seed sprouting. I wish I could grow a candy plant!

After a few days, the squash got too tall to fit under the plastic. I let them grow under the grow light for a couple more days and then I transferred them to pots. I set the pots outside so the seedlings could adapt to outside temps. They started growing even taller.

The seedlings were too tall. Time to move them to bigger pots.

I also planted some seeds in pots on my back stoop so they will be easy to pick while I'm cooking. I just used regular potting soil for this.

There are seeds under that dirt!

I planted radishes and onions. The beets might have been a little crowded. I will have to thi the sprouts or the root, which is the radish, will get all clumped together. or, will never make the little round radish.

The onions are what are called "bunching onions". They look like chives or scallions. They don't make a big bulb. So I don't think I'll have to thin the little sprouts.

I already had a chamomile plant growing in one of the pots. I threw some radish seeds in there, too.

Chamomile plant. It keeps sprouting every year.

Chamomile is self propagating. It blooms and the seeds go everywhere. We'll have chamomile growing in all kinds of places. It is like a weed. A very healthy and delicious weed.

Chamomile is good as a tea. It's natural sweet taste is wonderful before bedtime. It helps relieve stomach upset, nausea, mouth sores, and anxiety. It is also great for burns. Just make some tea and use the spent flowers and (after they cool down) press them onto the burned area. I've known people who found relief from eczema and other rashes using chamomile. This is one weed you want to keep around!

I harvest the chamomile flowers in the morning before the dew evaporates. I just pinch of the flowers with the white petals unfurled. Some flowers I let go to seed so I will always have chamomile.

The day after I put my little squash plants outside, there was a big storm. I brought them inside before any hail broke their little heads, but I'm afraid the wind brok the stems on most of them I just have one or two left. Maybe three. This is ok with me, as every year I have more than enough squash to feed my family. I freeze a good portion of it. I make pasta sauce and, of course, other vegetable dishes with the squash. I make bread from the zuchini. I also add some zuchini to a chocolate cake that makes the cake super moist. Yum! I gues I did grow a cany plant, after all.

Baby squash plant.
Other baby squash plant.

When I transplanted the little seedlings to bigger pots, I also removed the peat from its little round bindings. I put the dirt, along with some potting soil, back into the black plastic tray. I planted sunflower seeds.

They sprouted almost immediately. I didn't get a chance to take baby pictures. They are already too tall to go under the plastic. I'm just keeping them inside under the grow lamp, probably for another week. I'm looking forward to these sunflowers making lots of seeds. i love roasted, salted sunflower seeds.

It's a sunflower seedling forest.

While I was transferring the squash seeds to larger pots and planting the sunflower seeds, I also started some seedling in pots using plain potting mix soil. They, too are doing very well.

Black eyed pea seedling.

The first seeds I planted were black eyed peas. I love these peas. They look like a bean, but you open it up and find little cream colored, kidney shaped pods with a black spot. In Texas it is traditional to eat black eyed peas on New Year's Day to guarantee good luck for the rest of the year.

The "peas pods" of the black eyed pea plant.

I don't know if eating them brings good luck, but they sure are delicious. I see five plants are growing as of 14 May, 2021.

I also started onions, herbs, and carrots.

Teeny Tiny onion sprouts. I will transfer them to the dirt or to a container in a week or two, as soon as I see roots forming on the bottom of the litle pot.

I've already got several herbs growing in the garden area as well as in the herb garden by the kitchen. I have rosemary, terragon, and sage in the garden and spearmint, peppermint, and apple mint in the herb garden. But I don't have any basil. So I planted basil seeds in these same kind of tiny pots.

Tiny Basil plants. Soe will go in the garden around the tomatoes and some will go in the herb garden. Also when I see roots from the hole in the bottom of the little pots.

When it starts getting cold again, I harvest great bushels of herbs and hang them upside down from a line I have strung across my kitchen.

From left to right: Basil, lavender, cilantro

My carrots I planted in three rows in a raised container bed.

But the rain pushed all the seeds to one side. I guess the container dirt wasn't quite level.

Itty bitty baby carrot tops. The rain pushed them all to this side of the container. They are bunched up. I will have to pull some (thin the sprouts) or have really strangely shaped carrots.

I can't believe how well the other vegetables are growing. I harvest every three days or so. I love to eat vegetables. My husband doesn't like them as much, but he will try them when I grow them in the garden. We've got cabbage already making little heads.

Green cabbage making a head in the middle. When it is big enough, I will carefully remove the head from the center of the plant. The plant will create several more. I will be able to harvest all season.
We have seven or eight cabbage plants. This year it is green cabbage only. Good thing we like to make our own sauerkraut. We fement the cabbage instead of adding vinnegar.

What goes better with cabbage than some ground meat (lamb, cow, or goat) with fresh tomatoes. Roll it up into a cabbage for delicious, yummy goodness. So we've planted a few romato plants. They are blooming already.

Can you find the baby tomato? So cute.

We call tomatoes a vegetable, but they are really a fruit. Whatever you call them, and whatever they are, one thing is for sure. They are delicious. When these tomatoes get big, red, and ripe, I sometimes eat them just like an apple.

Those pretty yellow flowers will turn into giant red balls of goodness. I have to watch out for "tomato worms". They are bright green and have pinchers and horns. When I pull them off the plant they try to bite me. Too bad for them the chickens and turkeys love, love, love tomato worms.

We also have a grape vine that's been growing for several years. It is putting on a lot of tiny grapes. i love to eat grapes, make jelly, and even ferment grapes. The resulting juice tastes delicious and is chock full of probiotics which are good for the health of any gut. In addition to using the fruit, I use the leaves to roll ground beef and rice into an Armenian delecacy called Sarma. It differs from the greek Dolmas in that Sarma does not have tomatoes.

Sometimes I use leftover spanish rice rolled up in the grapeleaves. Sometimes I store some of my soft goat cheese in a grape leaf with balsamic vinnegar over it. Heaven.

Tiny bunches of grapes. I hope we get some before the birds eat them all. Those grape leaves are almost big enough to roll.

We're also growing peppers, swiss chard, and kale. Oh! I can't forget the strawberries! I even harvested some yesterday.

Pepper plant. I think this one will be a sweet bell pepper. But we have some spicy ones planted, too. I started some banana pepper seeds, but they haven't popped up, yet.
Dinosaur kale. Kale is a superfood, but you have to be careful. People who do not produce enough thyroid hormone should not eat kale raw. I am one of those people.
Rainbow swiss chard. The stalks from the same plant are either red, yellow, or white. Swiss chard packs a nutritional punch, too.

My grandparents were vegetarian. They ate a lot of "greens." Mustard greens and swiss chard have a similar flavor. Grandpa didn't much care for the flavor so he would cook it with brown sugar. I cook my garden veggies with bacon. Yum!

I also love putting them in a smoothie with grapes and strawberries. Very refreshing and fulfilling. On a hot day, drinking an ice cold green smothie is almost as good as jumping into a swimming pool. I don't have a pool.

I have strawberries, though.

The honey bees sure like this strawberry flower.
They are little but they pack a flavor punch. In grocery stores I find Huge strawberries that have no flavor. Better to eat the fresh delicious berries.
Flowers planted over the cat's grave.

It isn't just fruits and vegetables in the garden. Our cat died in April of 2020. So, my husband burried him in the garden. We didn't want to accidentally dig him up, so he put a flowering plant over the grave. The flowers come back every year.

The kitchen herb garden at the time I transplanted the tiny squash and planted seeds in the pots.
The herb garden yesterday. The apple mint is taking over. In the back you can see the spearmint. In the upper left corner, though it is blurry is orgegano. The herb garden is waitning for some dill plants to sprout and for the basil seedling to be transferred.

It isn't all about edibles. We plant to nourish our souls, too. And our noses. These flowers are blooming for the first time from bulbs we planted two years ago. They smell amazing.

I'm not sure what the name of this flower is, but is has a wonderful scent.
Same flower, different day. It actually blooms three different flowers in one bunch.
Similar plant as the light pink bloom, but a vibrant blue. I really wish I knew the names of these flowers. They smell amazing.

Since I don't know the names of the flowers, maybe a horticulturist will read my story and tell me in the comments below.

Image of Warren Buffet license free from Wikimedia Commons

All other images courtesy of the author.

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2 years ago

Comments

I enjoy watching the plants grow from the time that they are babies to full grown plants producing flowers or vegetables or fruit. I have a lot of trees that produce a lot of fruit. Loquats, lemons, grapefruit and figs. The fig trees are the most challenging to take care of. I have learned by trial and error the best way to cut the branches off for a better yield of figs the following year. I don't like to eat most of what I grow....but I do give it away to people who enjoy what I grow. I do plan to try growing more vegetables in the future. For now I stick to squash and cherry tomatoes and enjoy eating those at harvest time. I also have quite a variety of plants in my garden to attract birds and bees. Purple Iris, Sweet Peas, Rosemary and Aloe Vera just to name a few. My garden during the Spring smells quite fragrant and is quite pretty to look at. I liked how you plant to nourish your body, soul, and nose all at the same time. I do the same.

$ 0.00
2 years ago

You reminded me of my sister who loves gardening. She never fails to plant vegetables and flowers Everytime. You have such a very good habit. Congratulations for having all you babies and harvesting them. I feel motivated to have mine one of this days. I'm not a green thumb type of person that is one of my reason that discourage me on planting.

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2 years ago

I love the eating part of harvesting the best!

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2 years ago

I agree, as a gardener that's the most fulfilling feeling

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2 years ago

Okay, so when do I get to visit your farm? hahaha. Your veggies and herbs make me green with envy! Anyway, what kind of soil and climate does chamomile thrive in? We're in a very tropical climate, and it is hot as an oven right now (middle of summer). I can't go to our farm due to mobility restrictions. Besides it needs a lot of soil conditioning, which can be quite a challenge given that when it's the rainy season, it can get flooded out there. So, see why I'm envious of all you grow and produce?

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2 years ago

You may come visit any time. I just used dirt from around the place mixed with potting soil for the chamomile. It plants itself all over. In the grass, in the field, in the dirt. I imagine it would do well in tropical heat. As long as it stays watered, it seems to do well in our hot summers. Where the temps are regularly in the 100s (37C and up).

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2 years ago

Okay gotta find me some chamomile to plant or propagate.

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2 years ago

I enjoy propagating lettice hearts just for the fun of watching the new plants grow out of something that would usually just be tossed. Now, the can go outside to feed the local rabbits.

I love the thought of your in - law thinking the peat starters were chocolate. I can see myself doing that, if I didn't know.

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2 years ago

We used to keep rabbits. The goats would love lettuce hearts.

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2 years ago

I bet they would. I like to use romaine lettuce hearts since they work well and I like eating them. Just like the bunnies and goats. ❤️❤️❤️

$ 0.05
2 years ago

Do they grow lettuce leaves back?

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2 years ago

They do. Put the lettuce stem into water and the new leaves will grow in a couple of days.

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2 years ago

I'm going to try this! Any kind of lettuce?

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2 years ago

Yeah!it was more than propagation.Applause for your love to plants.I like most soyabean.It is best diet in poultry and ruminants.

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2 years ago

I've never tried to grow soybeans. But my grandpa, the same one who put brown sugar in his greens, also made his own soy milk from soy beans.

I wonder if they will grow here...

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2 years ago

You can try.If you were able to do that then it will be beneficial for you😉😉

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2 years ago