Gifts and good memories are usually what we have left after Christmas comes and goes. Are there gifts that make you feel like a child again? That's how I felt after finding this small present under the Christmas tree this year.
Santa must have heard me this year when I was getting excited about the idea of growing trees, ideally a forest! He brought me this little tin box with a spruce grow kit inside which put a big curious smile on my face.
My fascination started over the summer when I noticed a tiny maple tree growing in a flower box pot I had along with my other plant.
I eventually moved it to a different pot and collected few more during the summer. They became a part of my cozy outside home post.
Now, they are bigger and stronger and will hopefully survive the winter...here they are, covered in the snow.
This is the very same tree. I'm waiting for the spring to see its leaves sprout and reach the one-year-old mark. I must educate myself how to keep them alive so they can eventually start the forest on my future property. Transplanting them may not be easy and I don't quite know where to locate my forest yet.
As for my Christmas Spruce (Picea abies) grow kit, I made sure to carefully read the instructions. They are not necessarily very encouraging as the germination chances are 75%... well I have faith. There were 6 seeds inside (apparently from Spain), a growing pellet and the tin will be used as a pot to grow my trees in.
The steps to follow are:
Soak the seeds in water for 24 hours
Dissolve the growing medium with water, fluff with fork and place it in the tin
Sow the seeds 1/4" deep and cover with the growing medium
Keep it moist in a bright, warm location with ample air circulation
Once the second set of needles appears use fertilizer.
The second time I had my child like smile when I was working with the medium dissolving it in the water with the fork. When putting the seeds in, I was thinking that 1-2 months is a very long time for the germination. This is going to be such a lesson in patience and discipline to take care of them. I'm looking forward to it.
This will be a little bit of a miracle how these tiny seeds might possibly grow to be big trees. It's not a couple of months but years for this to happen.
After the work is done, I pray for sun because that's what my seeds need now!
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