Bells of the North Homestead

Gardeners all have their own particular way of storing seeds.  Our tried and true methods to keep our seeds dry, safe, cool, and most of all, viable. For me, approximately five years ago, give or take, that meant storing them in their original envelopes in a tupperware container and hoped that they wouldn't get wet.  Many times I would get frustrated each year when I would try to start some seeds and I would have no success with germination.  Little did I know I needed to keep my seeds in a little better conditions than what I was doing. I sometimes did start a plant from seed but I would always succumb to running by the nursery, the local Home Depot or Lowes and get $20 worth of plants. Once I started growing more unusual varieties though, this could not work.  Most nurseries and greenhouses along with the big box stores simply do not carry varieties like Black Cherry Tomatoes, Delicata or Rouge vif d'etampes Squash.  I don't think I've ever seen any local s...

A while ago I posted a blog on Seed Saving where I shared my own idea of storing seeds.  Well imagine how surprised I was when I found that Walmart sells the exact type of container that I wanted to use. So, since they were so cheap(aka affordable) I picked up two of them up. I labeled each container by number so that I can always switch things around later when I run out of one type of seed and replace it with another.  Next I just made up a list or legend that tells me what number container has what type of seed.  Too easy! I did find that the bigger seeds don't fit into the larger containers (the larger ones have small screw top lids that fit about 5 of the larger type of seed.  No good) so I found a type of container that has larger storage areas.  Then I just numbered that and again, made up a legend.  Done! Takes up so much less room than before.  I've also swiped some of those little moisture control packets that you often find in shoe pac...

I Just wanted to share to all.  I have recently started talking to many of the ladies and gentlemen at Rareseeds.com. There is a wonderful gentleman there that has a really informative paper all about seed saving.  Puts my blog entry to shame, I should say!  I always feel you can never EVER know everything.  So please, please, if you've got a chance and you're so inclined look this up: http://www.americanseedalliance.org/index.html This manual had quite a bit more than my little blog about tomatos and squash! Oh, and stay tuned!!!!! MANY UPDATES to follow!!!

Each January or February gardeners all over flock to their Burpee; Ferry Morse or other miscellaneous seed catalog and make up their lists of this years plants.  Some may decide to purchase an actual plant or some might actually buy the seeds and start the seeds by themselves.  Heck some would be gardeners out there might, on a nice, warm, Spring day get hit by the planting bug and head on over to their local Home Depot or Lowes to search for a few fruit or veggie plants to fill up a pot or a lonely spot in their yard.  In the past I've done this.  As a matter of fact this year we bought all seeds rather than just buying the plants. Now if you do the math, even buying a plant is a good investment as you'll most likely get fresh, homegrown tomatoes, bell peppers or maybe some herbs all summer long.  Most likely the best and most frugal way to really make your plants work for you is to simply save your seeds each year. Now I say "simply"...