seedling bumping up

march 21 2013 

its been a little while since I've posted the progress of things. some of the seedlings have been bumped up to the 2 1/2" blocks. all of them are outside in the cold frame with remay fabric over top at night. during the day I take the remay off and prop the windows for some air and to keep the cold frame from getting too hot.

hyssop getting bumped up to 2" blocks

I was able to set the smaller tray on top of the larger tray to transfer the mini-blocks into the larger blocks.

I made these tongs but they weren't very useful, cute but not efficient.

I found that this little flat serrated knife was very good for picking up the blocks and moving them off the tray. Eliot Coleman recommends an artists pallet knife. I picked up this knife at Habitat ReStore for 25 cents.

april 14 2013

small seeded plants such as yarrow and st. john's wort are sown in micro-blocks. once they germinate and develop some roots, they need to be "bumped up" into the 2" blocks. 

yarrow (achillea millefolium) were getting lots of roots and outgrowing the micro-blocks. you can see how long the yarrow roots were getting in the photo below. I trimmed the roots just below the soil so that when I set them into the larger blocks, the roots would not get compacted. the roots will regrow where they were cut.

I found this knife at Habitat ReStore for 50 cents. I am not sure what the knife is for. it has 3 different edges. it works great to slide under the blocks and loosen the roots from the tray.

yarrow is best known as a vulnerary (stops bleeding). however it is a versatile healing herb with many properties. it improves circulation of the blood, moving stagnant blood and clearing blood clots, lowering high blood pressure and it can slow or stop bleeding.  yarrow gently stimulates the kidneys, liver, stomach and gallbladder, improves appetite and reduces flatulence.

yarrow is an attractive garden plant, and pollinator plant. it can be a vigorous grower and may get out of control in smaller gardens and overwhelm nearby plants. 

yarrow flowers growing along a trail in Shenandoah National Park, Virginia