Rob: Hello everyone,
Rob Greenfield here with
the Free Seed Project.
Lauren: I am Lauren
from the Napa County Seed Library.
Rob: Today, we are going to show you
how you can turn this one envelope
full of seeds into an abundant garden
of vegetables, greens, herbs
and flowers for our pollinator friends.
We have hand-selected some
of the easiest-to-grow foods for beginner gardeners,
to make this as easy as possible.
We provide these seeds for free to people
who would not otherwise have access to seeds.
Lauren: I was excited to get my free seed pack,
and I planted all of these seeds
in my backyard garden.
I want to show you just how much fun
and easy it was for me to do that.
Rob: All right, let us see.
If you are just getting started
with growing your own food,
we know that you might feel
intimidated by getting started.
Lauren: First, we want to say to you
that you can absolutely do this.
Once you get started,
you recognize that the plants know
what they are doing
and they can help you along.
Rob: Here we have mustard.
This is one of my absolute favorites
because it is so incredibly easy to grow and abundant.
Lauren: I did not know this
because I have only planted
mustard for the first time this season.
And as you can see, it is super healthy.
This is one of the first plants
that came up in my garden.
It has lasted and produced wonderful
spicy leaves all season long.
Rob: It is a pretty spicy one.
Lauren: Rob, check this out.
You have dill, basil, chamomile, kale, and radish.
Rob: All right.
One of the reasons I am so excited
for radish to be in the pack
is because it grows in just 30 days,
you can have radishes to harvest.
Lauren: Greens are some of the easiest
plants you can grow.
They are very abundant,
and they tolerate a wide range of conditions.
Rob: This one here is particularly kale,
which is also one of my favorite greens.
Here we have basil.
In the basil pack,
there are about five varieties of basil.
What popped up in Lauren's garden
is your standard Italian basil.
The wonderful thing about herbs
is in just the smallest amount of space,
you can add so much value to your life
and fresh herbs to every meal.
Lauren: This is chamomile,
and it is especially well known
for giving you calm and restful sleep.
It is one of my absolute favorite plants.
So dill here is a wonderful plant.
We get to enjoy this herb ourselves,
but the insects also enjoy this herb.
It actually brings in beneficial insects
into our garden that help
with natural pest control.
Many of these plants have multiple
purposes in becoming a successful gardener.
Right now, we are watching a little hover fly
flying around the dill.
They are beneficial insects to the garden.
The dill is one of the seeds we include,
but it is also in the beneficial
insect attractant mix.
Lauren: That is amazing.
I have noticed a lot more beneficial insects
in the garden since I planted a greater variety.
Lauren: Rob, I want to show you the carrot.
Rob: All right, carrots, I love them.
Freshly grown carrots in the garden
are one of the most exciting foods
for new gardeners
because you see it growing
and you do not know what is under there.
And then when you pull one up...
Oh, there you have it!
You never know what it is going to look like.
Look at that cool one.
If you want to get a little bit
of a closer connection with the garden,
a beautiful thing to do is take a bite
right out of the carrot, out of the ground
with a little bit of dirt still on it.
Lauren: That is delicious.
It is really sweet.
Rob: Mmm. Fresh.
Lauren: Unlike the carrot,
where you pull out the whole plant at once
and you are done,
We have some arugula here.
And you can snap off leaves
and make a great salad each day.
And the plant continues to produce
these wonderful leaves for you.
Rob: Mm hmm.
All right, here we have a bed of turnips.
A lot of people do not know this,
but you can also eat the greens.
They are a wonderful, delicious, green.
Lauren: Very tasty.
Also in this bed is cilantro.
And this is one that just popped up.
It came from seed.
So it is a self-seeding annual.
Rob: This will actually grow seeds,
drop them, and come back on its own.
And then here in the front,
we have some chives that are just coming up.
And what is really exciting about chives
is they are a perennial,
which means that they will come back
on their own year after year
and they will continue to grow larger
and larger in the space that they take up.
So here we are back at the mustard,
and this is the last plant
we are going to talk about again.
Lauren: Hey, I am saving those seeds
Rob: So tell us about seed saving.
Lauren: Well, if you want to participate
in the full circle of your garden,
then you would allow some of these
plants to grow up, make flowers,
and then make seeds.
Then you can save those seeds
to plant next year.
Rob: So with this one pack of seeds,
you can actually have seeds year after year
by practicing seed saving.
So with this seed pack,
not only do you get the seeds that you need
to plant your garden in the first year,
but by saving seeds, you can have seeds
free year after year after year
that you can share with your community.
So our hopes with this is not only that
you are going to get
an abundance of healthy food,
but that you will also be able
to share it with your community.
Connect more with your earth
and create that strong connection
in your community, which is exactly what
the Napa County Seed Library is about.
I am so grateful for you planting
all the free seed projects seeds
and helping people to see
what they can do with this pack.
Lauren: It was my sincere pleasure.
I really love demonstrating
that full circle gardening,
and I love connecting with my community,
giving them the free produce
and then we will have some seeds later on, too.
Rob: All right. We love you all.
Lauren: Thanks. Bye.
Rob: Enjoy the seed pack.
Rob Greenfield Films
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