A Seed Saver's Garden

[jbosmith]

I've actually got a strategy in mind for my early peppers. Every single year without fail I *WAY* over plant pepper seeds. Probably because it's the first seeds to get started and all my gardening oompah is in full swing after having been forced into winter dormancy. Right now, I still have some good sense about me after having planted yet again a much too full greenhouse of plants, like over a hundred in a wee 8 X 12 and having to look after it all through a scorching summer (using a water pump and travelling hoses). By the time I get to that point, the fun is draining out as a result of my spring over exuberance. So, I think I can better limit myself starting now with memories of massive and extensive watering fresh in my memory. It doesn't help I'm a pathetic and hopeless thinner. I do it, but never enough and all those excess plants wind up being kept instead of tossed when I can't find homes for them. I also made sure - yes, I 'm hopeless - to plant like 3 seeds or less. (Why I had little clumps come up in the pots I don't know?)

I really want to enjoy my greenhouse in a leisurely way, with some actual space between the pots for once! And not wind up looking at it like a huge chore, which is the cycle I've gotten myself into since having it built. 'Less is more' - tough one for me...

I've started making my garden plans during harvest season for the same reason. It all looks so easy on paper...

 

[jbosmith]

One other nice advantage to planning now is that I've already ordered most of my seeds and have lists ready to go for places like Fedco that haven't opened the new season yet.

A lot of people seem to have used pandemic times to start gardening and the demand doesn't seem to be going away anytime soon. I think most seed houses, especially those who resell from the big producers, are likely to run deficits in stock again this coming year. I'd hate to be narrowing down my garden lists in February or March these days.

 

[flowerbug]

... 'Less is more' - tough one for me...

hello thread title... winnowing down the collection is certainly one of the hardest things to do.

 

[Zeedman]

hello thread title... winnowing down the collection is certainly one of the hardest things to do.

Agreed.
==

 

[Pulsegleaner]

'Less is more' - tough one for me...

Just be careful you don't fall into the logic trap I got into, where I started to think "If less is more, then nothing is everything." (granted I was thinking about food, not seeds but the idea still holds)

 

[Zeedman]

Just be careful you don't fall into the logic trap I got into, where I started to think "If less is more, then nothing is everything." (granted I was thinking about food, not seeds but the idea still holds)

If less is more, I must be getting richer.

 

[heirloomgal]

If less is more, I must be getting richer.

 

[heirloomgal]

Uhhhh...discovered a SIGNIFICANT flaw in using my garden soil for starting seeds. I also have my answer as to why I planted exactly 3 seeds in each pot and yet, clumps of seedlings came up. There was seeds from tilled in tomatoes and peppers in that dirt....

 

[jbosmith]

Uhhhh...discovered a SIGNIFICANT flaw in using my garden soil for starting seeds. I also have my answer as to why I planted exactly 3 seeds in each pot and yet, clumps of seedlings came up. There was seeds from tilled in tomatoes and peppers in that dirt....

You can pasteurize garden soil by heating it in an oven. For full disclosure I've never done this but see it mentioned now and then.

 

[Zeedman]

You can pasteurize garden soil by heating it in an oven. For full disclosure I've never done this but see it mentioned now and then.

There is usually an odor mentioned as well. Ask me how I know...