Starting Seeds
Getting the Right Seeds For Your Garden in 3 Steps
Junior High Health Class.
Slide projector & tape recorder.
When you hear the beep, turn the slide.
“It all starts with a seed.”
Here at Pantry Paratus, it really does start with a seed, although not what my health teacher had in mind I’m sure.
Planning a garden is the best part of gardening, the dreamy part that has yet to be rudely awakened by humid heat waves or potato bugs. This is when anything is possible, when there is the hope of homemade tomato sauce and onion fritters. The only thing better than planning the garden is eating that carrot straight from the soil. The only thing better than the vision is the vision fulfilled.
This is going to be a hyperlink-happy blog. They’ll all open in a new tab, so just click away & get to them when you get to them. For starters, though, we gotta get you in the mood…so start here:
Gearing Up for Gardening by RichlyRooted.com
Step 1: Do not forget the long-term
Pantry Paratus sells wonderful heirloom seed kits and everyone should have one. They are packaged in #10 cans for long term storage (along with a basic gardening book), and this is why it is part of a well-calculated preparedness plan:
Loss of topsoil on a national scale
Extreme weather patterns and crop loss
The cost of crude oil
The farming industry and food supply chain’s total dependence upon crude oil
The governmental involvement in food futures, price fixing, and other financial magic tricks
Monsanto, Cargill, GMO, and cross-pollination
You set food aside for a rainy day, but have you ever considered the importance of heirloom seeds for long-term storage, too? I have certainly tried to do this on my own. Then a mouse got into them. That took care of my “DIY” ambitions of long-term seed storage. Scott from Down To Earth Seeds, the creator of our seed kits here at Pantry Paratus, explains the details very succinctly in this podcast.
Step 2: Securing Heirloom Seeds for This Year’s Garden
Make this the year you finally learn to save your own seeds! Sure, you can read a lot of great blogs about an assortment of gardening techniques, but this is one where you need the manual. The Complete Guide to Saving Seeds should really be on your shelf, so be sure to put one in your cart when you get one of our two heirloom seed kits from Pantry Paratus.
If you already save your own seeds or maybe have some from an unknown vintage, you can easily determine viability with this simple test.
Picking the right plants for your location and soil type is a key (and many resources are available on seed company websites), but here is list of the 5 easiest plants to grow, and the 5 hardest.
Are you looking for a reputable company to buy this year’s seeds? Let’s get you moving in the right direction; check out both of these informative blogs on heirloom seed companies:
Blue Yurt Farms: 13 Quality Seed Companies
Green Talk: Heirloom Seed Companies I Love
Step 3: Making Seed Starts
There are long lists of reasons why you should do your own seed starts instead of buying plants from the nursery, to include the economics of the thing. It also brings the joy of new life into your home, allows for inquisitive children to experience science, and gives you the freedom to pick the right plants from the myriad of choices for heirlooms.
When it comes to starts, we probably ought to start with the “what not to do.”
Moving on, here are 3 free seed containers you have at home already.
Learning and Yearning does a nice job making this simple. Here’s a really easy step-by-step for you. They will even teach you how to make seed pots out of old newspaper!
For egg-carton gardening with a toddler’s assistance, you have to check out this adorable post (aaawwww!) from Healthy Roots Happy Soul.
Of course, you make starts approximately 6 weeks before they can be planted outside (be sure to check your seed packet’s instructions for timing, which varies by seed). If you live in the Frigid North as we do, sunlight is at a premium. We do have a small grow light to help things along, and Five Little Homesteaders gives you all of the tricks to starting seeds with grow lights that you need to know!
Well, that garden isn’t going to grow itself…actually, it mostly will…but those seeds need to be planted by you. So order your seeds today!
Produce, Prepare, & Preserve–
Chaya
For more great gardening books, check out our “How To & Why To” Book Section!
Photo Credits:
The seed photo is the only one that belongs to Pantry Paratus. All others were used courtesy of the blogs for which they represent. Please follow those links to learn more about photo licensure. Please feel free to share or pin these photos only in connection with this blog. Thank you.
Proviso:
Nothing in this blog constitutes medical or legal advice. You should consult your own physician before making any dietary changes. Statements in this blog may or may not be congruent with current USDA or FDA guidance.