Seeds

The days are getting lighter. Spring is slowly coming. I call this moon the seed moon, because it's time to think about what to grow this year.
I look through the seeds from last year. Some were saved from the garden. Others bought from a local farmer. I dump them all out on the floor and sort them into their plant families. Latin Family names are important to know for sorting seeds, and especially to practice crop rotation. I label each Family clearly on a peice of cardboard and place the seed packages back into the box.

Once the seeds are in order it is easy to see what I have. I start a seed inventory, mark the name of each vegetable, as well as the variety, seed company and year the seed was harvested.
This list is very useful. At a glance I know what seeds I already have, and what I want to source (whether through a friend or from a farmer) before the growing year starts. The name of the seed company informs me where the seed came from.

The longer a seed grows in a certain location, the more adapted it becomes to the soil, wind, rain, etc... therefor the better it grows. I would always prefer to grow a seed that came from my backyard, than one from a seed company. Even if the seed company was from somewhere in my province.

It's also important to know where a seed came from because of cross pollination. Some seeds (such as beans, peas, lettuce, tomatoes, red peppers, etc..) are self pollinators. There for the seed always comes true to it's mother. All the other seeds are cross-pollinators. There for they need to be saved using careful methods to create a seed that comes true. If you get a seed from a friend that was cross pollinated, make sure to ask how they saved the seed.

When starting a vegetable garden, it is important to know how old the seed is. Some seeds will germinate for 5 years (such as Broccoli), but others only last 1 season (such as parsnips) before their life force is gone. All the information is available on a seed germination list.
If a seed packet is getting old, it is worth doing a seed germination test to see what percentage of the seeds you plant will grow.
The Seed Germination Test instructions are on the website below:

http://www.yougrowgirl.com/grow/seed_test.php

Now that my seeds are in order, I've created a seed inventory and have tested the older seeds to see how well they will germinate, I know what seeds I have available to grow this year. It's time for me to make a list of what seeds I want to grow which I do not have and figure out where I can source them, and hopefully trade for them, locally.

Happy Seed Moon......