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Category: seeds

The Story of a Seed

  • By - DiyGarden
  • Posted on

I believe that the story of a seed holds wonder and creation within itself. Looking at one little seed it can be hard to believe that there is life just waiting to burst forth. To me it doesn’t matter what life is inside, it can be a flower, vegetable or herb. I love the way God created a seed, let me explain more here. Within that little seed it has all it needs for the first few weeks to take care of itself. Give it a little dirt and water and then stand back it can take care of the rest. We have learned to do the menial jobs of taking care of the seeds that we plant and at just the right time the beauty from the seed emerges and is the reward for all hard work we have done.

Seedlings

I have shared with you in the past that I don’t have a green house but I do have a grow room. My gardening zone is 8a and that is only important in my story because it tells you that I start my seeds on January 1st. I did that this year and as of this writing it is now January 31st. I have planted a lot of seeds and I now have a lot of seedlings! It makes my heart so happy I could spend all day in my grow room with my seedlings. I’m transplanting them into larger containers and just now am adding to the soil a little bone meal to help with the transplanting shock. The seed didn’t need anything from me except for dirt and water up to this point.

Plants

Now most of my plants have their true leaves; which means leaves that will look and function like the leaves the plant will have for the rest of its life. I will transplant them usually into larger containers to keep them in until it is time for them to go into the ground. At this time I usually use a little fertilizer to keep them healthy until it is time for them to go outside.

P.S. I shot a video a few years back explaining how old a seed can be before it’s not viable anymore. Feel free to take a look.

Here is to your homesteading dreams,

Shawn

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Beautiful Garden Seeds

  • By - DiyGarden
  • Posted on

Garden Seeds

I dream about beautiful garden seeds do you? It’s in the air, do you feel it? There is frost in the forecast and a tingle in my fingers. The garden catalogs are here and decisions are being made. Well, at least for the most part, I’m not making any decisions. Like I mentioned in my last video, I have old seeds and have wondered if they will germinate. So, does the age of a seed matter? It’s a question I’m really asking myself because a lot of my seeds are old but I will be sprouting them to help find the seeds that are in the best condition.

When to Start Garden Seeds

The question of when to start seeds is hard to answer since it depends on where you live. I am in zone 8a. If you aren’t sure what a zone is or how it pertains to your garden all you have to do is google garden zone by zip code and you will find out what your hardiness zone is. This is information that will help you know when you can plant in the Spring and also how late in the season your garden will survive. Think of it as your first and last frost dates.

What Garden Seeds to Start

I’m a simple person and enjoy the simple things of life so when I’m asked the question of what should I grow? My answer is always what do you eat? I’ll tell you more about it here. We love lettuces, tomatoes, and peppers. There are other things that we like such as eggplant and celery but we stay away from things we don’t care for such as okra and squash. We wouldn’t eat those and I won’t give up the space for that while others may.

However, there is one thing that I plant now that I never use to and that is flowers. They are so pretty and add so much to the garden both in looks and with drawing in pollinators. These pollinators are so important to the garden and having a successful crop.

Show and Tell

If you want to see how I start my seeds please check out my YouTube video here. You will see how simple it is and what a great reward comes from one little seed.

Let me know what seeds you are starting.

Here is to your homesteading dreams,

Shawn

Do You Have An Herb Garden?

  • By - DiyGarden
  • Posted on

Having an herb garden has always been a dream of mine however; gardening has always meant veggies in my mind. I have been doing vegetable gardening for most of my life.

In the Beginning

I grew up on a cattle ranch in Montana and we had a very large garden there. I did not enjoy working in the garden pulling weeds and watering it, I would rather be out riding my horse. After I got married I started gardening again and I enjoyed it more but it became more difficult as the kids came along. And true to kid form none of them enjoyed working in the garden. It was hard to keep a garden up, raise kids and keep the small farm that we lived on running too. It was worth it to keep fresh veggies coming into the house and to can what I could for the wintertime but it wasn’t exactly enjoyable. Now that we are empty nesters I am enjoying gardening once again.

Taking the Herb Class

garlic

The class focuses in on six herbs and I’ve been able to find seeds for some of the herbs that we are talking about in the class, Echinacea, garlic, sage, and cayenne. I already have the garlic coming up in my grow room. I have just planted Echinacea, sage and cayenne. I’ll probably order the Elderberry shrubs and mullein online.

My biggest problem is the area I have for my new herb garden has shade, a lot of shade. Most herbs like the sun so my plan is to keep the herbs in pots this year and rotate them so they aren’t in the shade all the time. There are four trees that shade the area and I’d like to cut them down but that isn’t in the budget this year. It is all about adjusting and working the best with the areas that we have for our gardens.

herb seeds

The class talks about the history or the herb, how to grow it, how to store it and then make an herbal remedy from the herb. It has been so interesting. I know this will be a jumping off point for me to move forward and learn more about herbs.  

What is Your Herb Garden Dream

I’d really love to share with you the things I learn in my herb class so be looking for those blogs in the near future.

Tell me about your herbs. What is your favorite herb?

How Old is an Old Seed?

  • By - DiyGarden
  • Posted on

So I had some old Italian Flat leaf Parsley and Genovese Basil herb seeds sitting around and I wanted to try them in our hydroponic system to see if see if I could get them to germinate. I waited two weeks and saw nothing so into the trash bin they went but it started me thinking how long are seeds viable? After doing some research I learned that all seeds are viable for at least a year, with many others viable for definitely two years. After that second year the germination rate may start to drop off.

There is a trick to see if a seed will germinate.

old seeds

There is an easy test you can do to check to see if there is life left in your old seeds. Take your seeds and put them in a container of water. Let them sit for about 15 minutes. Then if the seeds sink, they are still viable; if they float, they most likely will not sprout.

There are other reasons besides age that your seeds might not germinate.

If they are planted too deeply, or planted in cold soil, the extremes of watering, improper soil preparation, birds or squirrels are the most common causes for seeds failing to germinate.

Ok, so you have old seeds if they germinate will the fruit be good?

The experts say that planting old seeds is not only possible it’s okay. The flowers and fruit that come from these seeds will be of the same quality as if they were grown from fresh seeds. The nutrition from old vegetable seeds are just as nutritious as those from current season seeds.

What is the proper way to preserve seeds for years?

Different kinds of seeds can be saved, each in their own individual paper packets. Make sure that you put the date of the seeds on the packet. Keep seeds dry and cool. Store these packets in tightly sealed glass containers. Putting them in the back of your fridge is the ideal place to keep them until you need them again.

With the price of seeds it’s important to take the best care of them that you can. If the current season’s seeds aren’t used take the time to properly store them for the next. Also, if you are gathering your own seeds take the time to learn how prepare them properly for storage. The time and money that this takes is worth it and you will thank yourself for doing so. I know that I am going to be more careful and store my seeds properly It will help me not be disappointed when they don’t germinate and it will help save my money because I’m not buying seeds that I already had but didn’t take care of.

How do you save your seeds?