I got yelled at by farmers on Reddit.
From The Garden: a reminder that you can just do things for the fun of it.
Every hobbyist who makes the leap from casual hobbyist to dedicated hobbyist must traverse the gauntlet of internet professionals.
No matter what hobby you do, they are out there, waiting for you to ask a seemingly innocent question on a subreddit and then leap at the opportunity to either spew too much knowledge or berate you with backhanded questions and comments.
Yes, there are the kind souls amid them who take the time to help you. But making that initial post feels like getting on stage naked sometimes.
This year I decided to have a go at germinating seeds.
While I am a garden hobbyist currently, I would like to scale my garden each year. The siren song of going full-blown urban permaculture is strong, but I will hold my tongue on how capitalist and wasteful American lawn care is for another time.
I know gardens take years of learning and expanding, trial and error, but I also want it to be fun and not a serious scientific operation. I understand I’m not growing food as if my life depended on it, but I would at least like to supplement my diet with homegrown, seasonal food in a permaculture setting.
So I figured, why not learn to germinate? I got my little seed trays, a warming mat, and some grow lights. I built a simple frame to hang the light from and set it up on my kitchen table. I started with lavender and lettuce, but I also have heirloom tomatoes and cabbage to germinate.
![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_474,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1ccb5ef1-922f-43ad-9b68-ef0ec971c626_4032x3024.jpeg)
![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_474,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F659db8c6-cd94-4cd9-b6ad-3633bda76ed1_4032x3024.jpeg)
![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_474,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F040bcb95-f418-4f5d-a613-4e35c3e9751e_4032x3024.jpeg)
Now here is the problem with any plant hobbyist or enthusiast in general. When you google a question related to plant care, you will get the same answer; “It’s easy! All you have to do is this, this, this, and this, but make sure of that, and don’t do too much of this!”
It’s always “simple, but.”
I had some issues with my lavender seeds. The package made it seem like I could set it and forget it. Just plop a seed on TOP of the soil, keep it warm until it germinates, then give it lots of light and water only when it’s dry.
Sure, simple.
My lavender turned into this. SPOILER: they shouldn’t look like this.
They should have looked more like this below; the leaves a little more robust and firm, the stems not so “leggy.” My light was apparently too far away and they were stretching, but their soil was also too warm and wet and it just basically stunted them from firming up.
So I went on Reddit with my germination setup that I am VERY PROUD OF, THANK YOU VERY MUCH, and asked why my Lavender looked so stupid.
Well. I was very humbled by farmers who said I really shouldn’t bother germinating at that small of a scale, and that they germinate 400 seeds at a time. I also was vehemently questioned why I put more than one seed in a cell.
One lovely human explained to me in simple terms how to germinate the lavender.
I tried again with the few remaining seeds I had but have had no luck yet. RIP. My lettuce is KICKING though and will be planting them after this weekend since the final frost of the season is coming.
The moral of the story is to have fun.
I had an absolute blast trying, learning, failing, and trying again. Waking up in the morning to see little seed sprouts with little seed shell hats on their head??? I SQUEALED. Growing lettuce from seed was incredible, especially lettuce with its overpriced costs at stores, and its quite frequent recalls, it’s very rewarding to be able to grow something from scratch that I use all the time.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have 4 cubic yards of dirt getting delivered and dumped on my front lawn to attend to. My neighbors must love me.