02.29.20 Christine's Mizuna

If you spend some time with Christine, you too will become passionate about growing everything from seed. I met Christine at the Oceanside Crop Swap where she was giving out transplants of blue borage, mizuña and kale as well as all kinds of seeds from her collection. I was thrilled when she invited me to a seed starting workshop she was hosting because I have had less than mediocre results from my own seedling operations. Gardener’s recognize that true power comes from knowing how to plant from seed; suddenly you step into the world of heirlooms and endless varieties of every kind of plant you could ever imagine plus those that you didn’t even know exist. Are you on the edge of your seat yet? 

The Seed Starting Workshop was taught by Brijette Pena, founder of the San Diego Seed Company. I hope to do a post about her soon but in the meantime, I will tell you that she is a ball of fire and knowledge. After the workshop, Christine gave us a tour of her seedling operations, much of which I have copied at home. It helps that her backyard leads out to old growth oak trees and a gentle stream below. She has a seedling station and a variety of built containers where she transplants her seedlings. You can read all about her gardening method on her blog. That night she made a salad from her garden; mizuna, watermelon radish and Aiko tomatoes with a homemade dressing of 1/3 lemon juice, 2/3 grape seed oil, 1 tsp dijon mustard, 1 TBS chopped shallots and salt.