Seeds and Seed Starting Resources

It’s that time of year when gardeners everywhere are drooling over seed catalogs.  Due to the pandemic, so many more people have started home gardens and that has led to seed shortages.  Combine with social distancing rules and reduced staffing at the warehouses from which your seeds are hand packed, plus the shipping delays … well…tt’s a feeding frenzy out there!  It makes me wonder what Tulip Mania of the 1600’s must have been like! 

I will not lie, I’ve also been buying seeds that I don’t actually need… I just covet them.  I have a seed hording problem.  Good thing most seeds last a long time in the freezer.  Dig to the bottom of our deep freezer and you’ll find a wildflower garden.  Another “fun” thing about buying seeds during a pandemic is that going to a big open space (like a greenhouse) feels relatively “safe” so it’s the only in-person shopping I’ve done.  In January, there is like, no body at the garden centers.  They are still putting the Christmas stuff away… but they do have seeds!  That’s an exciting, fun outing for me!

So let’s talk about seeds.  This is going to be pretty much me rambling on, so here goes…

Where to buy seeds?

I’m going to assume that you don’t need mass volumes of things (like, a packet of 25 tomato seeds is plenty, right?).  These are the seed companies that I recommend and why.

Johnny’s Seeds:  They have just about everything you want, and they are a co-operative, meaning they are owned by their employees.  They have a large supply of organically certified seeds and they do not carry GMO seed (if you’re new at this, F1 hybrids are NOT GMO – it’s just a cross between two plants…).  I find that some of their seed is over priced in the smaller packets.  Just sayin’

Select Seeds:  I love Select for flower seeds.  They have lots of interesting things plus their germination rate is solid.  I find that particularly true for sweet peas.  Sweet peas are all the rage right now (as they should be, since they are like divine inspiration you can bury your face in) but because of that, I’m finding low germination rates on some sources. 

John Scheepers Kitchen Garden Seeds: Get the catalogue.  It’s such a fun one.  It cheers me up whenever it arrives.  Solid germination rates here too.  Really nice for vegetable seeds and as the name implies, all the flowers and herbs that a kitchen garden should have. I also like their seed packets – they have a lot of good information on them.

Floret:  So buying seeds from Floret is definitely comparable to Tulip Mania.  This year the hot ticket was a particular Zinnia type (Little Flower Girl), which I was lucky enough to get a packet of, and everyone is eagerly awaiting her release of Zinnia Golden Hour next year.  This is what I’ve found with Floret seeds, they are reliable but not exactly the best germination on some things.  The packet it pretty but the type is too small and I wish there was more growing information on them.  Floret is great for hard to find things and I like to support them because they are family owned and breeding a lot of their own seed, which for a plant nerd like me, is super cool.

Rene’s Garden: I’ve gotten these at local garden centers and I find the price is very good, solid germination rates and they have some lovely home garden collections, like their patty pan squash packet where you get three kinds in one packet.  I’m into stuff like that for the veggie garden because most people don’t need 25 of the same plants…

How to Store Seeds:

I have a sh$t ton of seeds.  Like I said, I horde them, but they’re small, so who cares?  It’s not like hording old newspapers or something, right?  Anyway, they are kind of like trading cards for me.  I like to flip through them and see what I’ve got, dream about what they’ll become, organize them, etc.  I keep them in three ring binders and use these plastic photo page things from the 1980s when we actually used to print photos out.  This way I can have everything alphabetized and (theoretically) not order what I’ve already got.  I usually shop for seeds with a beer in hand, at the end of the day… it’s entertainment for me… so yes, I have a lot of duplicates because I adore them (not because I was drunk seed shopping… never). 

I keep the binders in a cool, dark closet so the seeds stay fresh. I’ve also got seeds in the freezer.  These are ones that I need to have pre-chilled anyway, so I just leave them in the freezer indefinitely. It’s like pulling out hamburger meat when you need it… I guess?

When do you start your seeds?

You wont like this answer: It Depends.  It depends on your agricultural zone (i.e. when your first and last frost are) and what you’re planting.  For instance, things like tomatoes and eggplants you start pretty early because they take a while to get to a decent size.  Other things get too leggy if you start them too early.  Somethings don’t really like to be transplanted, so you’ll direct seed them (think carrots… anything with a decent taproot).  You can look up pretty much anything you’re growing on Johnny’s website and it has seed starting instructions. Some things need dark to germinate, somethings need light, etc. 

But once you’ve got your seeds, you can use this handy dandy seed starting planner that I made and keep notes on what you did so that when it comes time next year to do this all over again, you don’t have to look everything up!

Lastly I want to close with talking about starting seeds in a “sunny window.”  I never do this.  To me that’s like giving a baby watered down milk.  It’s only a fraction of the nutrients a baby needs to start off a heathy life.  Plants are like human babies.  You want to give them everything they need at a young, tender age so they thrive (vs just survive).  I use cheep fluorescent lights that I hang on  shelf and it works great. Doesn’t have to be a fancy grow light, but a widow doesn’t cut it.

I’m sure you have a zillion more questions. Feel free to drop them in the comments below.