Some new faces peeking out in the garden! More triffids! Rosemary, Chinese Red Mustard, Chards and Beets from seeds

Despite what I've read about Rosemary not being worth germinating from seeds (low and slow germination rate and really s-l-o-w growth in the first two years, I decided to go ahead since I managed to find a packet of seeds from the local supermarket. The seeds (all of them! Must have been about 20 or so in the packet) are sown on the 5th of June about 3-5mm deep in potting soil mixed with some sea soil and perlite. I'm not a big believer in using the fancy schmancy *seed starting soil*. The pot was just left outside on the deck, watered only when I remember it. Compared to the other seeds, it's not so eager to hatch; I guess it's just waiting for the right temperature and humidity.

Surprise! After about a month or so (no kidding about the s-l-o-w germination) a seedling appeared. It didn't look very rosemary-like, I nearly pulled it out thinking that it was a weed! Good thing I didn't - I just left it, watering only when the soil gets completely dry (Rosemary originally are shrubs that grows on sandy soil near sea coasts - so they're used to pretty harsh dryness in between the rains and the saltwater splashes that would kill other plants!). Another couple of weeks another two seedlings poked their heads out of the soil. They looked the same as the first one so I figure they *must* be rosemary, despite what some Gardening Forumers insisting that they should look like pine seedlings when they come up - which proves to show that not many people actually witnessed rosemary germinated from seeds!

The first to poke it's head out of the soil out of the 20-30 seeds. Photo taken 18/07/2011.
Seedling is approximately 12 days old. One of the true leaves got detached, and I can
confirm that this is a rosemary plant from the smell.

Second to poke it's head. About 11 days old.

Third to appear - a week old.

Latest hatchling - I figure it's only a couple of days old. No wonder I thought the
first one was a weed! It looked nothing like a *pine seedling*!

Also got some Chinese Red Mustard (Brassica juncea), Swiss Chards (Beta cicla), and Beets (Beta vulgaris). I did a bit of a boo-boo and the seeds got kinda mixed up in the germinator (dropped it!), so I can't tell which seedlings are Chards, and which are Beets - they both look the same upon germination! Good thing the chinese mustard plant is very distinctive. They all go into the same pot, while the beets and chards go into another - until I can differentiate them as they grow older.

Brassica juncea