bad news - good news

Thanks for all of your guesses. I know, that was pretty easy (especially considering the hint I gave you - maybe the question should have been - What was the hint?).

Anyway, the bad news is, my first attempt at parenting cedars has not gone well :(.

I planted the first batch of 100 unstratified Northern White Cedar (thuja Occidentalis) seeds on 12/09/06 and they have not germinated (and I don't think they will). No matter how much I talk to them and play the ukulele for them, they just sit there - nary a peep nor tendril. On some of the cups, a mold has begun to grow. I fear this mold and so do the seeds.

Here you can see no seedlings.

The good news - on the same day, I also put 100 seeds in a cold water "stratification" bath. This is one method used to encourage germination by softening the hard seed coat (similar to scarification by birds). This week I'll try again with a fresh greenhouse (and different ukulele songs). Wish us luck!




PS - You may be wondering why we've not been posting news about new boards, designs, DVD's and kits. Rest assured, we are hard at work developing these things and are getting ready for a new launch. We just want to do things the right way and the right way takes time. Thanks for your patience...