In late fall, we received a donation of Sea Soil and it will be used in the transplant mix used to start seedlings. Volunteers in the greenhouse have been working all winter, saving and ordering seeds, sorting and counting pots, making and cleaning labels and creating lists and timelines for what to seed and when.
Waterproof stickers applied to pieces of window blinds are used as plant labels. We can reuse these labels year after year so please return them to reduce waste.
Soon, the earliest seeds will be started and before long, the greenhouse will be full of flats of seedlings that need to be transplanted. Each pot is carefully planted by volunteers in a soil mix that has been perfected by volunteers and includes Sea Soil. This mix will nurture seedlings until they are sold or donated.
larger seedlings are gently separated before being planted deeply into a rich soil mix that includes Sea Soil
Seedlings are transferred into pots one at a time. This is obviously a time consuming task, especially for seedlings that are sold with multiple plants per pot.
The seedlings are weeded, watered and cared for by volunteers until they are ready for sale or donation in April and May. Lots of volunteer hours go into producing these seedlings and businesses like Sea Soil are crucial to our success.
Seedlings started in the greenhouse. All pots must be labeled to prevent misidentification.
Seedlings are sold at our plant sales in the spring. Some seedlings will be donated to local organizations and gardens to help people grow more food in Nanaimo.
Sea Soil has donated enough that we will be able to use some Sea Soil in the raised beds used to grow veggies for the Good Food Box. This year there are plans to expand the amount of food donated. THANK YOU SEA SOIL for helping us!
Photos – courtesy Sibylle Dorn, Zurich