AdAgrA Conference 2024: Growing Better

Home Gardening

Paul Dysinger

AdAgrA: Adventist Agriculture Association

Seed Starting Tricks: How to Start Seedlings That Thrive

My name is Paul Dysinger and I grew up, everywhere we went we had a garden.

She was always growing something, taking plant cuttings with us on airplane, because we lived overseas for many years.

I was born in Sudan, ended up spending time in Tanzania and Yemen.

And so my mom would bring cuttings with us on the airplane, or she would take her compost with her from 1 place to the next place.

So she is the real deal when it comes to a green thumb gardener.

So we always had a garden, we always grew something, but it wasn't until my teens that we moved to Tennessee and my dad ended up partnering with his brother John on Bountiful Blessings Farm.

And I worked on the family commercial farm for many years and then branched off and started teaching gardening on a home level and a homestead level and then from there it has grown into now where we develop garden and farm planning software and we'll give you a little peek at that.

Probably not in this class, but another later class.

We'll have some flyers that we'll hand out a little bit later though if you're interested.

But today, this morning, we're going to be talking about seed starting tricks and how to start seedlings that thrive.

And basically we're taking from the experience on the commercial farm, you know, starting tons of plants, hundreds, thousands of starts.

How can you take that and apply it on the home level and be more efficient and productive with your starts?

Let's bow our heads for a word of prayer as we get started.

Heavenly Father, thank you for this time that we can come together, that we can talk about starting seeds, and I just pray that you would send your Holy Spirit to come into our hearts.

We know your word is a seed that comes, and we want it to sprout and grow just like we're talking about these plants sprouting and growing.

So thank you for this time that we can think about it and please bless us with your presence here in Jesus name.

All right, So seed starting tricks how to start seedlings that thrive how many of you have started your own seedlings before?

All right, I think most of you how many of you have not started your own seedlings before?

Okay, we got we got a good little number here as well So we're gonna be talking about some some tips and tricks.

We're going to talk about direct seeding because there's 2 ways that you can seed your plants.

You can seed them inside when you plan to transplant them outside later, right?

Or you can direct seed your seeds right into the garden itself.

So we're going to talk about direct seeding.

We'll talk about transplanting, which is the other method of seeding them inside, getting them ready to transplant outside.

And we'll talk a little bit about why we like to use soil blocks when we start seeds.

And we will give you our potting mix recipe.

And we will talk about transplanting successfully and some tips on how you can actually transplant those plants out successfully.

So just a quick reminder, I was told as a presenter that if within the first 5 minutes you decide that this isn't the class for you, you're welcome to go find another class.

If this is the class for you, then stick with us and we will walk through our training here.

And also a quick reminder, I will try and save time for questions and answers at the end of the class here.

So if you can hold your questions, which means if you have a pen and paper, feel free to write those questions down and we'll try and save some time to cover question and answers at the end.

That's primarily for the recording because this is being recorded for Audioverse.

You probably hear this at the beginning of every session, but all right quick reminder.

Why would you direct some seed crops and some crops and why would you transplant some crops?

Am I in the way of you guys being able to see the screen?

Oh yeah, we've got limitations here, don't we?

I'll just try and stand back a little bit as we go through.

Number 1, it's not practical or economical to transplant some plants.

And some examples of those are like tap-rooted crops like carrots and parsnips.

You're going to plant so many carrots in a row that it just doesn't make sense to transplant them.

The other aspect with carrots and tap-rooted crops themselves especially, is a tap-rooted crop is going to throw down a root deep quickly, right?

And they actually don't like being transplanted as much.

They don't like the, their roots being messed around with.

And so taprooted crops just are known for not being very good transplanters, even if you were going to want to transplant them.

By the way, some herbs, example of herbs of those would be like cilantro and dill.

Also you would want to just direct seed in your garden.

Legumes, peas, beans, you know, they're larger seeds and there are some times where it may make sense to transplant a legume.

But oftentimes, it makes most sense just to direct seed them into your garden.

I'll give you an example of a time where it makes sense to transplant.

It's actually another large seed, but corn.

Oftentimes you'll direct seed corn, but it can be beneficial to transplant corn in the case where you have issues with birds.

Have any of you had issues with birds in your corn?

So we've had issues with birds in the corn.

You plant them, they just start to sprout, the birds see those sprouts coming up and they just come and peck off your corn.

Whereas if you start your corn in a large soil block or a pot or something, then you can transplant it out later when it's tall enough that you're not gonna have issues with the birds.

So that's an example where you might transplant some of those larger seeds.

And then you have fast-growing crops like radishes and spinach.

Again, you're also going to be seeding these pretty close together.

Although, I have to say that we have transplanted a lot of spinach And there are times where it can be beneficial to transplant spinach versus direct seeding it, but it's often direct seeded as well.

And then herbs can often go either way except for those tap-rooted ones that I mentioned earlier where you're pretty much gonna most always want to direct seed those.

So, germination percentages for direct seeding are actually typically lower than the percentage on the seed packet.

So you're gonna get your seed packet and it's gonna say 90% germination rate, right?

That is being tested under a nice environment where everything is perfect, right?

And they will do germination tests on those seeds and that's when they're gonna give you that germination rate.

Out in the garden itself with the elements and the Yeah, it's just not the ideal germination spot usually.

So your germinations are typically going to be a little bit lower than on the on the seed packet.

And so what we encourage doing is allowing for a fudge factor of 50 to 100% germination, which means, an example is if you want to plant, if you want a plant every 4 inches, let's say you're planting peas or green beans, which oftentimes you'll want plants spaced about 4 inches apart.

Then what we encourage doing is seeding a seed every 2 inches, and as those plants come up, you can always go in and you can thin them out.

And how many of you find it really hard to thin plants out?

For example, with beets, you can do this with peas too, it's really great.

But if you plant them thickly and then you come in and you thin them out.

So like with with beets you can eat the little beet greens.

Here's another great example with beets is you can thin them out to the size where they'll grow baby beets and then you can come in and you can harvest you can thin out the baby beets which are going to be about that big and The leftovers are going to grow up to the full beet size.

So you can maximize your harvest actually by using a thinning method.

Winter Harvest Secrets: How to Extend Your Growing Season

Looking forward to talking about winter harvest secrets, how to extend your growing season is our topic and this is intended for home gardeners and homesteaders that are wanting to extend their season through, and really it's either extending your season, taking it further into the fall or winter or earlier in the spring, or you can actually in many places across the United States grow straight through the winter.

And so we'll be talking about the the principles and the techniques of how to do that.

Why don't we start with a word of prayer.

Heavenly Father, thank you for this time to talk about winter gardening and how we can extend our season and grow more food in the off seasons when a lot of people just aren't doing anything.

And I just pray that you'd be with us as we talk through this subject together now in Jesus name.

And I'm just curious, how many of you here have grown through the winter before?

All right, we got a good a good few that have have done it or are doing it.

We kind of call this our CTP strategy for winter gardening.

We're gonna talk about our simple formula to know what grows best in the winter versus the summer.

This is kind of the first step to season extension.

The second T here, this is the number 1 critical factor for having a successful winter garden.

And then P is the key to keeping plants alive in the cold and why wind is 1 of your worst enemies in the winter.

And we'll share a little bonus here, how to build your own winter quick hoops and why they are so effective as well.

C, our simple formula to know what grows best in the winter versus the summer.

Well, first of all, see here stands for cold tolerant.

If we're going to grow crops in the winter, We want to grow crops that are already cold tolerant.

They can already handle a frost and a freeze.

Now I want you to imagine for a minute climbing up a mountain like you see in the picture there.

And as you go up you notice that at the bottom you have these tall, large, you know, evergreens and deciduous trees.

But as you climb that mountain, the flora changes, right?

Eventually you're gonna burst above the tree line and all of a sudden there's no more trees growing, but you'll come up to the top and there'll be this little flower growing by a patch of snow that you may never see that little flower down in the valley, right?

So each plant in nature has an environment where it thrives the best, and it's the same in your garden.

And you can think of that mountain as climbing up over your season of winter, Because as you go up, it gets colder, right?

There's a little bit harsher environment up there.

And in your garden, there are plants that can handle and actually like the cold better.

And there are plants that just really need the heat.

There are plants that can handle a frost.

They can freeze and come out of it and survive and do well, and then there's plants that you get a frost and you're done, right?

So it's important when thinking about growing veggies in the cold of winter to choose ones that will do well in the cold.

Instead of fighting nature, let's work with it.

So what we are not going to talk about today is how to grow tomatoes through the middle of winter.

You can do that if you have the right setup, you know, and you may need some extra lights, so you gotta have some extra warmth and stuff.

But what we're gonna talk about is what are super cost-effective, simple ways that you can extend your season without breaking your pocketbook and without breaking your back doing it.

Let's find those plants that are gonna do well in the cold anyways.

He says, the secret to success in lengthening the season without problems or failures is to find the point at which the extent of climate modification is in balance with the extra amount of time, money, and management skill involved to attain it.

To put that in simple words, we want to find the the easiest way to extend our season through the winter without that's not super super a lot of hard work and doesn't cost us a lot of money, right?

So in short, we want to grow veggies over the winter in a way that's easy and cost-effective as possible.

The first aspect of that is to grow veggies that naturally like the cold.

So we have come up with a little rhyme that helps just simplify, okay, what are those crops generally that like the cold?

But first, the truth is not everyone knows what those veggies are.

So we had a little story back when we were working with Bountiful Blessings Farm.

My dad partnered with my Uncle John for many years on the farm, and I worked for many years on the farm.

We had a CSA customer that was part of our winter CSA and it was, you know, we kind of chuckle about it, but The reality is a lot of people don't know what crops grow in the winter and the summer, and she was kind of disappointed that she wasn't getting green beans in her winter CSA.

And so, you know, we kind of chuckle about it, but the truth is that a lot of people don't and that may be you and that's okay, because we all got to start somewhere.

All of us learned at some point, right, which ones are or today is your chance to learn which ones are and which ones which ones don't.

So here's the little rhyme that we came up with.

Winter leaves and roots versus summer seeds and fruits.

And the key here is that we're looking at the part of the plant that you're going to be eating off of that plant.

Furthermore, there are a few exceptions just like almost everything in life, but the The general rule holds true that for most of your winter crops, they're going to be crops that you're eating the leaf off of the crop or you're eating the root off of the crop.

Radishes, beets, carrots, those are roots.

There is, like I said, a couple exceptions.

Irish potatoes can't handle much of a frost.

They do like cool weather, but they can't handle frost.

In the summer, what are the crops you're growing?

And you might think of those as vegetables, but it's the fruit off of the plant that you're eating, right?

If you get into grains, then you may end up overwintering some of those grains.

However, you would harvest them not in the middle of the winter.

And let's look at a list of cold tolerant veggies that you can extend.

Because there's actually quite a few that you can do.

Low freeze tolerance, medium freeze tolerance, and high freeze tolerance.

In fact, if you talk to different growers in different places they may rearrange these a little bit.

So it's somewhat subjective and somewhat dependent on your context and the healthiness of the plant.

But we'll go ahead and give you our list here.

So low freeze tolerance first here on the left.

And what we mean by this is these can handle a frost, but they do best with just a light frost.

So if you get down to like the high 20s or something like that, you know, 32 is frost, right?

So just a few, you know, a little bit less than Medium freeze tolerance would be down to like the Down into the mid 20s high freeze tolerance where it'd be like they can handle low 20s and and below So low freeze tolerance lettuce chicory.

That's the your radicchio on dive escarole Broccoli cauliflower cilantro parsley radishes celery bok choy by the way broccoli and cauliflower Those you're actually eating the flower off of the plant, right?

So it's a little bit of a exception to our little rhyme there.

However, it's very interesting because we have had broccoli, for a long time we would make sure that our broccoli did not freeze at all, like the head of the broccoli, because we'd had experience where the broccoli head would freeze and we'd harvest it and it would just it would go to mush like once it thawed.

Advanced Track

Adner Abreu

Optimizing Your Greenhouse Production Part 1

All right, my name is Adner Abreu and I'm the farm manager of Eden Valley Farm.

I've been farming there now as the farm manager for the last 2 years, and I've worked there in the past for a few years as well.

And this will be my fourth season starting.

So, but of course I've been farming now for Over a decade.

My mom will tell you that it's like it's more than that, but officially really getting into it for the last 10 years and I have learned just just methods and techniques and simple methods 1 of the things I want to share with you that once you leave this class and once you go through any of the courses that I teach, whether it's at Eden Valley, whether it's here at Niagara, it's basically simple steps that you can go home and just do it.

Yesterday we talked about turning tomatoes into profit.

Looks like we had a lot of fun with that as well.

So today we'll be doing in this advanced track, which is advanced, but at the same time, This is, you know, I think agriculture is beginners, always beginners, because you're always learning.

And I'm like, sometimes I make mistakes that it's like, how did I make my, you know, how did I made that mistake?

And I wanna share with you just what I have observed, what I have learned, what I do every day.

My greenhouses there at Eden Valley, the Tomatoes just in tomato this past year we went over $70, 000 on 3 greenhouses that we planted.

We provided a lot of tomatoes to the community, gave tomato away, and I just had a good time.

Now, yesterday we talked about growing inside the greenhouse, but today I wanna talk about the greenhouse management, how to really deal with your greenhouses so you can have good crops in there, because it is a huge step.

And as well, if you are in the process of setting your greenhouses, how to understand greenhouses so you can set it up in the best location of your land.

And if they're already there, how to optimize it then to have good success.

So write down your questions as I'm going to.

And then towards the end of my slides here, I'll start asking questions so all of us can participate.

All right, so optimizing your greenhouse production.

We're gonna go over location, position of the greenhouse, selecting and building, weed control, watering, fertilization, beneficial insects, inside the greenhouse, outside the greenhouse, and I'm gonna give you a breakdown a little example of revenue, a cost and revenue of the greenhouse.

So how much can you expect to put in, how much can you expect to get out of there, and at least in 1 year, and then that way you can have an understanding about greenhouses And later on I'll share Some stories as well because sometimes I tell people you do not need a greenhouse right now And so I'll tell you that part too.

Let's dive right in into the position of the of the greenhouse and And this 1 right here south to north It is what I recommend what many recommend to put your greenhouse.

And 1 of the reasons we focus our greenhouse facing north and south is because the sun comes from the east, goes to the west.

So basically, if you grab this water bottle, and If I face the cap of the bottle towards the east, what happens is that the back end of the bottle, which is the west, will have shade for too long.

But if I flip it like this, the side of the bottle facing east and west, then when the sun comes from the east, it will take very little to reach the other side.

And basically, as soon as it comes up, it goes over.

Your rose, every rose in your greenhouse will get more sun right away.

And we have 1 greenhouse in Eden Valley that is actually facing east to west.

And So make sure you put them north to south.

But of course, there is another factor that you have to take in consideration that I think is perhaps even more important, which is the wind.

Now here in US, the greenhouses are just round, most of them.

And the wind, the way you put it, If you have very strong wind coming through you, I would put in facing the wind.

That's what I would do, like facing the wind.

If you have very strong wind, just if east, For example, if your greenhouse are supposed to go to your left, just to make it very simple.

If your greenhouse is supposed to go facing to the left side of your property, but your winds are coming very, very strong from the right-hand corner of your property, just shift it a little bit.

So basically, you have to favor the wind more than the sun because you might lose your greenhouse and then it's gone.

There are other greenhouses in other countries and here in the U.S.

For example, ASI set out several greenhouses throughout ministries, and they have a top that opens.

So if that top, when it opens like this, it's right, it's facing that wind tunnel that you have.

When that strong wind comes, it's just going to pick up that greenhouse.

It's going to go in there and pick up that greenhouse and throw it in the woods.

But if it goes over it, then you won't have any problem.

So, yeah, just have those things in consideration.

This is a big factor when it comes to drainage and putting in high grounds.

Sometimes we're having problems, like we had a question early here.

Sometimes we're having problems in our greenhouse just simply because they are in a low land.

They are in the lowest part of the property.

They are next to an area that is super wet and and then you end up probably having problems with fungus and you're like I don't know how what to do here with this fungus And it's just the location of your greenhouse, it's not optimal for growth inside the house.

So when you place a greenhouse in your property, Make sure you go in an area that has a good wind flow and as well is It's it's on high grounds Now you don't want to put it if you have a hill you don't want to put like right on top of the hill if you Have a lot of wind because otherwise you you'll have a problem with a wind but basically do it in an area that is not wet.

Back to Menu

All Teachings

Seed Starting Tricks: How to Start Seedlings That Thrive

58m

Winter Harvest Secrets: How to Extend Your Growing Season

50m

Optimizing Your Greenhouse Production Part 1

1h

Daniel 7 Part 1

50m

Remember Ye Not

26m

10 Lessons of the Past

25m

10 The Struggle Against Slavery

28m

Sabbath School AdAgrA Impact

1h 8m

Save that Seed!

1h 3m

Ask the Teacher

1h 6m

Commands of the King, Part 1

28m

Predictions You Can Trust

28m

Sound Doctrine