Hot Mess of Seeds

Alright - lesson learned. Don’t buy a gaggle of gardening books and then selectively choose the advice you WANT to follow. I flat out ignored the step in seed germination where you thin out the weaker seedlings to allow room for the healthier ones to grow and as it turns out, there’s a pretty good reason for including this step. When it came time to plant the lettuce and carrot seedlings in the ground they were a hot mess. The roots had grown together, the leaves were all tangled and it was impossible to separate a seedling without damaging the whole lot. I wondered if this was an amateur mistake or the makings of a greedy gardener. Of course I want ALL my lettuce plants to grow. What exactly will I do with 36 heads of lettuce at one time? I’m not quite sure…but I grew these little seedlings and want all of them to be successful. I also passed statistics and playing the odds is the way to go here, but how do I plant this snarl of seedlings?  

Enter Hippie Jeremy. Jeremy is one of the professional gardeners tending to the Orchard Pond Organic crops. Maybe I didn’t explain that very well in the beginning, but the majority of the community garden is used by Orchard Pond Organics to grow vegetables for their CSA members (http://www.orchardpondorganics.com/). CSA or Community Supported Agriculture and is a service that provides local fruits/vegetables to members for a set monthly fee. Jeremy suggested I separate the seedlings the best I can and prune back the clumps as they grow up. I confirmed this technique with my Garden Guru, Sarah Marie - a certified Master Gardener who has successfully planted a prolific vegetable garden for many years.  Below are a few pictures of the lettuce and carrot seeds in the ground.