Growing your own Garden: Part 1

 

Illustrated by Owen Lee

My dream is to have my own garden with a spacious greenhouse which has stations to bake and brew coffee like cafes. I guess the first step towards my own garden is knowing how to germinate the seeds.

I bought basil seeds a few weeks ago to grow. I wanted to make some olive oil pesto for my pasta. Based on my research through googling and web surfing, basil seeds need sunlight for germination. Also, it has a lifespan of about a year. However, with proper pruning (cutting of the branches), you can turn the basil plant to grow as a tree and it will flourish more than a year. With high hopes to grow the basil as a tree, I began my first step towards DIY garden.

1.      Bring out a piece of kitchen towel and fold it three times.

2.      Place the towel in a small container and sprinkle the seeds.

3.      Soak the towel with water.

4.      Wait for 10 to 12 days for the seeds to germinate.

"I can't wait to see the little green buds."

When you soak the seeds, you’ll notice a transparent jelly like substance wrapping around the seeds like chia seeds. If you happen to know the terminology for the layer around the seed, please let me know through the comments below 😉.

Anyways, continue to soak the towel with water occasionally (probably three times a day if your house is dry). I sprayed them with water, but make sure you don’t water it too much so that the seeds don’t submerge underwater.

You’ll want your house to stay at a warm temperature (15 to 23 degrees Celsius) or else the seeds won’t germinate. I also bought some peppermint seeds along with the basil seeds, but the peppermint seeds were so tiny that I couldn’t possibly see them properly. I recommend that you directly sprinkle the peppermint seed on the dirt not directly on paper towel (then there is no hassle to transplant the seeds into a dirt jiffy pallet later when it germinates).

Growing my own plants gave me some sense of autonomy and control over my daily routine. I highly recommend to anyone who is reading my blog to start this hobby of germinating seeds ;D. From the tiniest seed, you’ll find the joy grows bigger each day.