Wednesday 29 January 2014

Do you prefer seeds or seedlings?

It was with great interest that I read Rhonda's post yesterday on her blog Down to Earth as she was writing about planting seeds. In the past we have bought both seedlings and seeds but lately I have been experimenting with saving seeds for the next crop so Rhonda's post was very timely.


 
We have bought some seeds from various local shops and others from Green Harvest which is a great company to deal with.
  

 
This is their carrot 'Colour Mix' which produces a variety of colours including purple.


                                                              'Gympie Gold' cucumber ...


 
...and beetroot 'Cylindrica' which has a cylindrical root and is really easy to peel and slice.
 
However, in the comments section on Rhonda's blog I noticed that someone mentioned another seed company called The Seed Collection
 
 
home
 
I had a look at their website and you can buy packets of seeds for approximately $1 per packet and, if your order is $5 or more then postage is free. So, if you are in need of some more seeds, it might be a good place to check out. 
 


I have had a few successes already with planting seeds I have saved and it is very exciting to see the new plants coming up. In the same post I mentioned on Rhonda's blog, she explains a method of checking to see if seeds are viable and I will give this a try with some of the older seeds that my husband has had stored away for a while.



She also had photos of her blueberry plant and while mine was looking great when we first bought it, it isn't looking as wonderful now so I will have to find out what we are doing wrong. We have had it protected from the heat and wind but it is obviously not happy. It is going to be so good to be able to pick our own blueberries to pop on breakfast cereal as they are such a healthy food.

Anyway, I thought I would share with you about The Seed Collection in case you hadn't heard of them. Do read Rhonda's post if you haven't already and you are keen to learn more about growing plants from seeds. She is a mine of information and she and her husband, Hanno, have had plenty of experience  growing vegetables over the years.

So, what is the verdict...do you prefer to sow seeds or plant seedlings?
 
 


 

6 comments:

  1. Next year, I might try raising my own seeds for tomatoes. This years plants that I bought had fruit on them already but took so long to mature and ripen. Honestly, early November until ripening in mid January! I think its because they are raised in hot houses, then dont acclimatise to outdoor conditions and this slows them right down.
    Thanks for letting us know about the seed companies, I'll give them a go!

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  2. We bought some tomato seedlings a few years ago and they grew well for a while then they got blossom rot. The cherry tomatoes which just come up by themselves each year sometimes rarely give us any problems so we don't bother with the larger tomatoes anymore.

    That seed company looks good. I might order some seeds soon myself, Joolz.

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  3. I have always bought seedlings locally... but I might try growing from seeds this year.

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    Replies
    1. Yes, same here Lori. It would be much cheaper.

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  4. I'm a fan of seeds. I like to purchase mine from an organic company. The only thing is they are a little tempramental. I get a little disappointed from time to time. Its then that I revert to seedlings, but they disappoint too - because it seems to me, plants grown from hardy stock (like my organic place) will self seed and produce decent veggies for a few seasons, but shop baught seedlings tend not to have that sort of longevity. I dont know the science behind this, but I am reminded that planting from seed, and collecting seeds are a better investment of time. I like you blog :)

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    Replies
    1. Yes, it's a bit of trial and error with gardening isn't it Tamara.

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