Growing From Seed

I think many people feel intimidated by the thought of growing plants from seed, besides beans and peas which you kind of have to grow from seed. But for anyone who really wants to grow a large number of plants or unique varieties, you really can’t go wrong with seeds! You are also getting more bang and potentially better quality for your buck, i.e. I could buy one regular old German chamomile plant from a local nursery (which may or may not be carrying pest or disease into my garden) or I can buy a packet of 300 Heirloom variety seeds and get well … a lot more plants for roughly the same price!

Now growing plants from seed can be a bit challenging, and there can be a bit of a learning curve. In the end however that will always be one of the most beautiful and wonderful things about gardening! It’s a learning experience and there is always next year,  if things don’t work out try try again!

One thing to be careful of in the buying of seeds is to not get carried away and order all kinds of wonderful things that you “just have to try”. It’s an easy rabbit hole to tumble down. At this point anyone who knows me and seen my seed “collection” is probably laughing or shaking their head. But to anyone who really knows me, you will know that I try very hard to be careful and I could easily have a collection two or three times bigger than my current one!

One thing I always try to remind myself of is 1) the space I have and 2) the climate. With regards to number 2, when I’m looking at seed catalog or reading through reviews I try and catch the details, for example this person gave it 5 stars said it was a great crop and grew very well, but they live in mountains of Colorado and I live on the east coast. What grows well in one area will not necessarily grow well in another.

Zoning is another useful tool when gardening, basically it’s just a division of area based on yearly temperature range and a lot of seed packets will have information based on zone. So if you are looking at something and it’ll grow well in zone 8-10 and you live in Florida then great, go for it! But if you live in Maine you should probably do a reality check and find something else to drool over.

 As a side note you can occasionally get away with stretching those lines and making things work in your garden. For instance, I would love to grow rhubarb some day … but I’ve read it grows in zones 4-6 and I’m in zone 7, so I thought oh well I guess no rhubarb for me! But lo and behold one day while browsing my Instagram feed I discover a post about a beautiful, healthy patch of rhubarb growing in Maryland and I now have high hopes for growing my own some day.

Another important thing when growing from seed is quality. This may sound obvious but I know a lot of people who have tried growing things from seed and then given up because things either didn’t grow or didn’t grow well. Half the time it isn’t their ”brown thumb” that’s the problem, it’s the quality of the seeds. Most of the seeds I’ve purchased from say Walmart that are big brand names like Burpee seeds have terrible germination, I’d say always less than 75% and usually less than 50%. And the plants that do grow do not always grow well (I.e. strong sand healthy). However,  whenever I have ordered Heirloom seeds from a seed company the germination rate is almost always 100%!

Having said that I’d now like to promote my favorite seed company ever, Baker Creek Heirloom seeds, you can check them out at rareseeds.com  (and no they didn’t give me any compensation for this promotion, I just really love the company!) also they have an amazing catalog that you can get for free!

Another great thing about growing from seed and Heirloom varieties in particular is that if you learn to save seed the initial cost changes from an expenditure to an investment! Saving your own seeds is not only fun but good for your garden and you bank account, also if you learn to save seed it becomes a valuable resource that you can share with friends, family and even future generations! Which bring me to my next and probably last topic.

The Super Duper Seed Swap! This past January was my first time participating in this event but it
definitely won’t be my last! It’s essential seed sharing on a massive scale. Here’s how it works in a nutshell, you send in 20 seed packets and you get 20 random ones back and you only pay shipping and handling. It’s a great way to share your favorites and try new things, for example in the January seed swipe I received blue jade sweet corn, Caspar white eggplant, broccoli, cocozella summer squash, triumpho violeto bean and black vernessage tomato. All of which I’m very excited to try!

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They are actually doing a flowers only swap right now! Sign ups end March 15th so go on over to the Super super seed swap and check it out!