You never know when there might be a garden seed shortage, or a trucking strike, or you ran out of money, just when it was time to send in your seed order. One thing I would like to do is plant heirloom varieties of garden vegetables and save my own seed. The research I have done tells me that is a new hobby, and there is a lot to be learned in order to be successful. Oh, I've done a little bit of it, but not much. Maybe I'll never get around to it. My husband has begun to express an interest in that, so we'll see...
In the meantime ~ I recently discovered a new, and reasonably priced, local source of seeds and plants of all kinds. If any of you live in southern Indiana (USA) you might want to check out Marion's Greenhouse in Deputy, Indiana. I went there a few weeks ago and got seed potatoes, onion sets and garden vegetable seeds. I returned about a week ago and purchased a modest supply of basic vegetable seeds for NEXT year. I brought them home, vacuum packed them using our Food Saver, placed the package in a Zip-Lock bag, labeled it and will keep it in the freezer until next spring. My plan (hope) is to do that each year, and have a fresh and viable supply on hand at all times.
The next step will be to also put up a supply of heirloom varieties just in case, while I am waiting and putting off doing something about that issue.
You can purchase #10 cans of garden seed collections for "survival" online, but they are quite expensive. I think this will be a good alternative. Even if the power fails, the seeds will stay good for at least a year, if kept in a cool, dry, dark place.
Excellent idea. I found tomato plants that are heirloom to plant this year and want to try saving seed. Years ago I had a neighbor who saved seed all the time. She had a small room with loads of shelves dedicated to just seeds. Jars and jars of seeds. I wonder if she still does that?
ReplyDeleteYou might be starting a good new habit.