It’s not exactly intuitive to begin planting seeds indoors when there is snow and ice outside. But a few weeks in Arizona visiting my family helped get me in the mood.
As soon as I got home I organized all my seeds and placed them in order by date — the date I should begin seeding indoors. With my set up this year, I can accommodate 16 flats of 72 plant starts! So a week ago, I started an assortment of flowers and greens, herbs, and peppers. It’s just amazing that these tiny seeds will produce food — lots and lots of it.
Of all my seeds, I knew these first flats would take the most time to sprout and mature — so I was prepared for a week or so of waiting. Of course I peeked a few times every day!
At Day Four I had a winner! The winning flat was large leaf sorrel. This is the first time I’ve had sorrel in my garden, and I’m learning about this plant quickly — now that I see that 98% of the seeds have sprouted after 4 days, and my seed packet still has hundreds of tiny sorrel seeds left in it, I’ve got to decide how I’m going to use it/share it/cultivate it.
I learned a few interesting things about sorrel over on Mother Earth News:
- It is a perennial
- Small baby leaves make a good addition to fresh green salads
- Mature sorrel makes a good creamy soup
- It is “lemony and zingy”
Sorrel is packed with nutritional value. Just one cup of raw leaves is a “powerhouse” of vitamins, minerals, protein and fiber. Verywellfit has the details on the nutritional value of sorrel, and how it can contribute to healthy eating and wellness.
This early-sprouting-flat is “heirloom large leaf sorrel.” My flat of “heirloom red-veined sorrel” is just now beginning to sprout (Day Six). Can’t wait to try these baby leaves in a spring salad!
What do you know about Sorrel? Do you have any recipes to share?
Gwen's Greens 