- in Gardening by Alexis Rodrigo
My Seed Addiction
Now that I've grown and harvested a few edible plants from my Tower, I'm excited about all the things I can grow in the Tower Garden.
When my Tower Garden came, I also received these seeds to get started:
- Black magic kale
- Rainbow chard
- Arugula
- Bibb lettuce
- Sweet basil
Your Tower Garden comes with a set of starter seeds so you can begin growing great food straight away.
They were more than enough to get started.
But that didn’t stop me from getting a few more ....
This is my July seed haul, including various types of mint and heat-tolerant lettuces.
And then just a little bit more.
Great Reasons to Buy Seeds
I’ve been buying more seeds for several reasons:
- To add variety and color to your garden
- To grow more nutritious food
- To grow edible plants that are more suitable to the current or coming season
- To perform certain “tasks” in the garden
- To have fun!
To illustrate, here’s my latest seed haul and why I bought each one.
Check Out My August 2020 Seed Haul!
Collards
Collards are one of the most nutritious vegetables you can grow, with a nutrient density score of 62.49. That means a 100 gram serving of collards provides 62/49% of daily values for 17 nutrients (potassium, fiber, protein, calcium, iron, thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, folate, zinc, and vitamins A, B6, B12, C, D, E, and K).
I thought I'd try collards to add variety to our diet. Who knows? It just might become a family favorite.
Dill
It’s funny that I ordered dill seeds again, because I previously thought planting them out in my yard years ago was a big mistake. That’s because it practically took over the entire vegetable garden bed and I hardly ever used it in the kitchen.
But then recently, I found out that aside from its culinary properties, dill has other superpowers: controlling fungi and repelling bugs.
Come to think of it, I didn’t get pest problems in that vegetable patch! Was it the dill? Could very well have been.
I'm planting dill again both in my outdoor patch and indoor Tower Garden.
Mesclun
Mesclun is a mixture of seeds for a salad made up of lettuces and other greens. This particular mesclun mixture includes red and white chard and red beets.
I plan to sprinkle these seeds on my garden bed outside. With a maturity date of about 60 days, I should have enough time to harvest before our average first frost date on October 21st.
I also plan to plant these seeds in the Tower Garden microgreens extension kit. It’s nice to not have to think of exactly how many lettuces, arugula, etc., to plant to make a salad. Plus, it’s fun to see what comes up from these seeds.
Sorrel
Sorrel is another green, leafy vegetable that’s great for salads.
I decided to plant it outdoors in my backyard and not just in my Tower Garden, because it’s a perennial in Zones 4-8. I’m looking forward to planting it now and having it come up again next spring!
Aside from these herbs and vegetables, I also ordered flower seeds!
Marigold (Dwarf French Petite Yellow)
I decided to grow some flowers in the Tower after reading about all the edible and ornamental flowers you can grow in the Tower Garden. These ones are the dwarf variety and only grow up to six inches high. They’d be perfect for the top of the Tower, or any other section, actually.
Marigolds are more than just a pretty face. They emit a chemical that repels worms and other bugs while attracting pollinators like bees and good bugs like ladybugs.
It was only after I ordered these seeds, though, that I found out that the orange marigolds are better at controlling pests than other colors. Oh well, I’m hoping these will be effective as well.
Nasturtium (Dwarf Jewel Mixed)
Nasturtiums are one of the four flowers every Tower Gardener should grow. They’re easy to grow, edible, and good at repelling pests as well.
They’re also extremely pretty! This dwarf variety will look amazing on my microgreens extension.
Well that’s it, my seed haul as of this writing.
I’m sure I’ll be buying more seeds again in the future.
Because that's what happens when you have a Tower Garden. All of a sudden, growing your own food is fun and easy and extremely rewarding.
Steam sauteed vegetables grown in my Tower Garden.
Even if, like me, you've killed many houseplants before.
And when you experience the joy of that first harvest, you'll want to keep growing.
All.
The.
Things.
PS: At some point, you're going to want to organize all those seed packets. Here's the best solution I've found so far.
The Bottom Line:
Growing in the Tower Garden just might get you addicted to planting. And then you'll want to buy seeds and grow all the things.
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