Through the Red Door

The potting shed at Golden Valley Farm is the heart of the garden. Made from bush timber and recycled materials, the shed reflects the philosophy of ‘simple, functional, beautiful.’ 

From the road and garden, it looks like an old corro shed, but step inside and see that the north-facing wall and roof pitch are recycled windows, creating a light, warm space for germinating and growing seedlings. Because the shed has a timber floor, the seed trays sit in old shower bases, so when I water the seedlings, the excess water is collected in buckets under the bench.

The potting shed houses everything I need for sowing and transplanting, including a potting bench, the six-row seeder, various trays and punnets and pots, and all my hand tools, as well as potting mix and soil amendments.

Most of my seedlings are grown in plug trays. Each tray has 198 plugs. Below you can see  both sides of a plug tray.

To use these trays, they are filled with potting mix. Then make a small depression in each plug (deeper for bigger seeds and vice versa), and put a seed in each depression. Gently sprinkle potting mix over the trays to cover the seeds, then water to activate germination.

Below are a freshly sown tray of coriander, and one sown a month ago.

Once the seedlings are a good size, I poke a stick up the holes in the underside of the plugs to loosen the roots. The seedling should come out with an intact root structure, which means there is little check to growth after transplanting.

I use plug trays for coriander, pak choy, asian greens (mizuna etc), spinach and lettuces in winter, endives, broccoli and other brassicas, kale and fennel.  

Some seeds I prefer to sow in punnets: beetroot because it has multiple plants per seed; parsley because I don’t need 200 seedlings; onions and leeks because their roots don’t hold the soil and therefore the plug trays are of no benefit.

I also have some larger plug trays for sowing fruiting annuals, where I want a bigger seedling for transplanting after the last frost. Into these I sow tomatoes, zucchini, cucumber, eggplant, capsicum, pumpkin.

Almost every plant in the garden goes through the potting shed in one form or another; as a seed, seedling, bulb or corm. This year I am also propagating oaks from acorns, and ash from seed.

But right now I’ve got to go and sow tomatoes....