Sorting Seeds

Seeds
It's time to sort seeds! Look over what we've got and get any we need. I actually don't need to get any this year as I got some free one's this week. My brother in law is the local barber in the town I live in and one of the locals donated all their leftover 2008 seeds for him to give away free! He had a HUGE box and about 4 bags. There were many high quality seeds from Burpee...I couldn't help but notice some Christian Tracts were thrown in the mix too. What a great way to spread the Word! It was nice to be a part of that blessing as seeds can get expensive. I got 15 packs ranging from flowers to veggies...and since I kinda already knew what I was short on....I filled in the gaps-FREE! I don't know just how long seeds can stay active, but my MIL who gardens year after year says that they can be kept for quite a LONG time if kept dry. She even went on to tell me she has read of 1000 year old seeds dug up in archeology digs that have been planted and grown! She is in the know and I just LOVE her stories! So we both agreed that was good enough for us! LOL! If you sow your seeds indoors first, you'll always know ahead if they're good or not. I wouldn't just plant the whole shebang in the garden then have nothing sprout! I like to keep my seeds in a simple Rubbermaid box. I just sort them by kind, with the oldest up front (to use first) then rubber band them together. Any seed I gather from around the property in the fall goes in a zip lock bag. I'll talk more about this after some pictures...

Sorting seeds:













All sorted, tucked in and waiting to get to the garden!












Now if you grow flowers you can save their seeds in the fall. Zinnias and Marigolds are super easy and I'm not sure what others but just let the dead flowers dry and turn brown then collect the seeds. I just go out with a box of zipper bags and a sharpie marker and collect seeds....it only takes a bit of time and you'll have more than you can use....you could pack some up for gifts too. Veggie seeds can be saved too if you don't grow hybrids. I did save some hybrid tomato plant seeds one year that did grow tomatoes the next year, but they were very small and not at all what their parents were the year before so not worth the effort. Here's my stash of home seeds.












We "think" we may have picked the garden spot for this year. I have a 6x4 garden spot already right out my back door that has in the past held just tomatoes, herbs one year and also just been flowers. It's in a good spot and close to our hose so watering would be very easy. Right now it is bordered with railroad ties and they have rotted down and need taken out this year. Our first thoughts were to pull the ties and re seed back to grass there....but now we think we'll just pull them out and expand the area to maybe 12 x 12. That's probably big enough. The location is convenient and the only other good spot would be way out back and not near water at all....plus I'm hoping closer will keep the critters out more as we go in and out the back door oh only a hundred times each day during summer (or so it seems!!) Happy gardening!