The last time I grew something from a seed was probably in my sixth-grade science class. That was nearly 50 years ago, so it’s safe to assume this is not going to be in my skill set. I should know better than to even try.
But seed packets just scream of possibilities. They are so seductive, especially in the spring when you see them stacked on a store display with dozens of flower and vegetable varieties illustrated in vibrant photos.
And some seed packets are even offered up free of charge, as I discovered Saturday during the Garden and Outdoor Living Expo at the Christian County Agriculture Expo Center. It’s a big event put on by Christian County Master Gardeners.
Among dozens of booths, there was one from the Hopkinsville-Christian County Public Library with a stack of little envelopes containing different vegetable seeds. The seeds are free because they are technically loaners. On the back of each envelope is a message that reads, “If possible, please return some saved seeds at the end of the season. Thank you!”
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This means someone believes I am capable of planting vegetable seeds, growing vegetables and then saving seeds produced by my bounty to then share back with the library. If someone believes you are up to such a task, shouldn’t you try?
I took — I mean borrowed — some kale seeds of the Blue Scotch variety. I looked it up on the internet, and it’s a beauty. There’s also a lot of information about soil types and growing seasons. Whew.
Just to play it safe, while I was at the expo I also bought a plant that someone else started for me.
It is a veronicastrum virginicum, a perennial better known in Kentucky as Culver’s root. It has white flowers and will grow to about 3 feet tall. It’s known as a butterfly magnate, so I’m looking forward to that.
Shannon Trimboli, of Busy Bee Nursery in Glasgow, helped me pick it out. I needed something that can take a lot of sun and blooms in the summer. Shannon and her husband, Anthony Trimboli, are wildlife biologists and educators who help people create pollinator and wildlife habitats. I know habitat sounds like something large, but Shannon encourages people to see nature right outside the back door.
My neighbor Polly Stokes also bought some pollinators from Busy Bee Nursery — a Rattlesnake Master, Hairy Mountain Mint and Eastern Columbine. I imagine the Monarch butterflies are going to be dashing back and forth from my yard to Polly’s this summer.
You can learn more about Shannon’s work on her blog and on a podcast she produces.
Another vendor I met at the expo was Lisa Ewer, of Hopkinsville, who makes birdhouses, feeders and baths by repurposing old glassware, china pieces and vintage items like cookie and tobacco tins. Her business is called Whimsical Creations KY.
“I have an obsession with glassware. I love the colors, the texture, the way the light reflects,” she said.
A garden show like the Hopkinsville expo is a good place to show her work, she said, “because these are my people.”
Gardeners who spend a lot of time outdoors can see possibilities in her yard art. Often they are attracted to an old advertisement on something like a coffee tin that has become the body of a birdhouse.
“When people come in and see my stuff, they aren’t just seeing the birdhouse,” she said. “They are seeing memories.” It might remind them of their grandmother’s kitchen or of an old relative’s pipe tobacco.
Now back to the library’s kale seeds, if any of Hoptown Chronicle’s readers have experience growing this (from seed, mind you) I’d like to hear from you.
Jennifer P. Brown is co-founder, publisher and editor of Hoptown Chronicle. You can reach her at editor@hoptownchronicle.org. She spent 30 years as a reporter and editor at the Kentucky New Era. She is a co-chair of the national advisory board to the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, governing board president for the Kentucky Historical Society, and co-founder of the Kentucky Open Government Coalition.
