I think starting your own seeds is a very important part of gardening. There is, by far, a greater variety of seeds available than plants that have already been started. Between all the seed companies online, you are sure to find that one special variety you have been itching to test out in your garden. The most important thing is the greater availability of heirlooms seeds.
Most seed companies sell their special hybrid seeds, which is good for you because they can combine the best characteristics of two different strains of the same vegetable in hopes of a superior product. It is good for them too because if you want that same hybrid once the seed packet is empty you have to buy more from them, which is in turn bad for you. If you sprout seed from a hybrid fruit you aren't guaranteed to get the exact same plant as the original. There is often even variation in separate plants grown from seeds of the same hybrid. It is the nature of genetics.
If you grow plants from heirloom seeds, save them, and then sprout them the next year you will get an identical plant. That means you don't have to buy more seed, you just grow them.
As always, there is some 'fine print'. Some plants are a pain to let go to seed. I never plan to harvest seed from lettuce because they are just so small I don't think I have the patience. Also, we like growing a Mesclun mix of leaf lettuce, but to grow our own seed mix we would have to collect seeds from each type of plant.
Be wary of cross pollination. If you plant two types of heirloom tomatoes side by side and the wind blows just right (or a bee goes from one plant to the other) they will cross pollinate and then boom, you have your very own hybrid. That is not necessarily a bad thing, it is just unpredictable.
I don't want this to come across as a rant against commercial hybrids. I use them, most of the seeds and plants I am using this year are just that. They have their place. I am using them this year because I got off to a late start and didn't have time to sprout my own. I specifically went after the disease and heat tolerant hybrids since I have had a problem with each in the past.
I also save hybrid seeds to see what kind of plant the second generation is; not as a main crop that I depend on for food but as an experimental one. At my heart, I have a scientific nature and a good portion of my garden is experiments in progress. I suggest you do the same, carve out at least some space in a garden devoted to experiments. Try a new hybrid to see how it performs. Try a new growing method such as growing melons on a trellis or potatoes in a box of hay. Or, just sprout some seeds from your favorite hybrids from the last harvest. You won't necessarily get the exact same kind of plant, but you may end up with a superior one. If the experiment fails, you still have the rest of the garden full of reliable plants. If it succeeds, well then you have a new trick to add to your gardening know-how checklist and you have more tasty food to eat.
I buy heirlooms, when possible, because I like to have the option of saving seeds and like having a pretty good idea what I can expect from the plants grown from those seeds. I also prefer heirlooms because they are the old and tried-and-true strains that have been productive for generations.
A big part of homesteading for me is to carry on traditional practices that people used time and time again in the past but seems to have been mostly forgotten by the last two or three generations. Another big part is sustainability. Saving heirlooms seeds fulfills both of those. Saving your own seeds has one more important advantage because you can save seeds from your healthiest and most productive plants. By productive, I don't mean focus solely on the plant that made the most fruit but the one that produced the most of the fruit you wanted. If you buy a couple beefsteak heirlooms plants (like I did), even though they are the same strain, each plant won't have the exact same tomatoes. If one plant has mostly 1 lb. tomatoes but the one beside it produced smaller fruit that had a better taste, you have to make a conscious decision whether you want to help natural selection along with the goal of larger tomatoes or better tasting tomatoes. When saving seeds it is important to pick out your best fruit or vegetable from the healthiest plant to increase the chances for a successful harvest next year. If you continue to do that for a couple years you will have a strain that, through natural selection, has the best characteristics for your own little micro-climate, your own perfect strain, for free.
This started out as a post on how to make seed starting boxes but, as is a habit of mine, I just sort of hopped up on my soapbox and rambled away.
The box instructions will be in the next post...I hope...
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| Seed-starting Boxes |
And because I feel guilty when I have a post without pictures of my dogs, here are some failed attempts of getting a nice picture of all three sitting together.
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| Murphy says, "Don't mind me. I'm just passing through." |
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| No, we won't look at the camera no matter how many times you ask |
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| The stick is calling to me! |
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| *sniff sniff* You smell that?! Someone just put hotdogs on the grill 2.37 miles that way! |
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