To the left is what is left of the collection after any seed dated to expire before June last year was taken out... They won't be wasted, just donated to people with larger gardens than us that can afford a dud seed or 2... Over the past 12 months we have been purchased from a large chain Hardware outlet on & off rather than placing orders for 1 or 2 packs of seed... We will not be doing that any longer as a lot of what's available from there comes imported from the UK, which shocked us, or is from a formerly Kiwi then Aussie owned company that has been gobbled up by Monsanto but that's another story not for here...I will admit to buying a few punnets of seedlings through there as we needed to get a jump on the plantings & unfortunately, the local nurseries were found to be lacking with the quality of their seedlings...
Seed Orders... 3 orders of seeds arrived yesterday !!!!! **Does Happy Dance**
I ordered from our old favourite, Eden Seeds, another trusted Queensland Supplier, Green Harvest & from a store on eBay, Boondie Seeds... This is the first time I have purchased from Boondie Seeds so shall see how they go...
From these guys we got,
Capsicum, Perennial
Onion, Lockyer Early White
Pea, Sugarsnap climbing
Beetroot, Early Wonder
Cabbage, Sugarloaf
Kale, Dwarf Green
Broccoli, Albert
Kohl Rabi, Purple Vienna
We have been using these guys fairly exclusively for the past few years as they have a great selection "old Australian varieties and organically or bio-dynamically grown where possible" seed varieties...
From Green Harvest we purchased,
2 x 48 cell seeding trays
Bean, climbing Madagascar
Onion, Lockyer Gold
Onion, Mini Purplette
Pumpkin, Kent/Jap
Sunflower, Sunbird
I bought from these guys at a Permaculture fair some years back & found the seeds to be great... The Turmeric & Galangal sets we are growing come from these guys & have never had a problem... We will be keeping an eye on their website for when their Strawberries & Asparagus sets are available... These guys have heaps of good books & other gardening bits & pieces available for sale... The Madagascar Bean is an old favourite here as it has a great nutty flavour & goes well tossed into salads raw... Unfortunately, the seed we saved years ago was too old when we planted it & did nothing but grow single runners that produced no flowers... It has a suggested sowing time of Spring for us here in "sunny" Subtropical Queensland so we will need to wait a few months before sowing...
Silverbeet, Bright Lights
Cauliflower, Purple Sicilian
Carrot, Purple Dragon
Mangelwurzel
I came across this eBay store when I was searching for Mangelwurzel... I have wanted to try this plant after seeing it on the Gardening Australia Website ...It is an old variety of veggie that will provide a leaf crop for us & the Chooks as well as a root that we will be able to utilise in stir fries & stews...
A few other stores that I have only browsed through after recommendations are Cornucopia Seeds & Diggers Garden club... I haven't used either of these suppliers but have heard good things about both so thought I would mention them to be fair...
Saved Seed/bulbs...
We bought 4 bulbs of garlic grown by a local market gardener before New years & have had them hiding up the back of a cupboard until planting time in mid April...
Oh !!!!
& I must mention this up & coming seed supplier.... (Teee he he he he he)
Koo (Dear Daughter #2) has been saving Bush been seed from plants in the patch & have been asked to show her effort... She has named them "Nira Beans".... : )»
They are Brown Beauty Bush Beans we purchased as seedlings last August...The last of them were pulled at the end of February... Hope fully they will produce something for Koo..
The first is what we think is a cross between the Orange Mild Chilli & a yellow Banana Pepper... It has the shape of the Banana Pepper but the heat & flavour of the Orange Chillies... The plant is still growing & producing but I thought I would grab some seed to see if they grow true to type later this year...
Other saved seed include,
Shallots
Basil, Sacred
Basil, Sweet
Bean, Blue Lake climbing
Silverbeet/Chard, Red stemmed
An unknown variety of Flat seeded Bush bean
Snowpea, Roi De Carouby
Pumpkin, Kent/Jap..(We have the seed but all 4 plants from it that have grown in the back yard from last years seed have not been holding onto fruit after fertilisation so I bought the seeds listed above...)
Tomato, Yellow pear
Tomato, Cherry
The seed tin will get a good clean out today so we will be ready for tomorrows seeding frenzy... Anything 2010 or previous will be tossed unless we can't source that variety any more...
Vlogs...
I have started to look through You Tube for helpful information on gardening from everyday people who are out there getting their hands covered in dirt... I was searching for information on Composting & came across a channel put out by a Happy Chappy called Ray (Praxxus) in Minnesota, U.S.A... Although our growing regions are quite different he has a straight forward approach to gardening that I like... I have learnt a few things about propagation & Feral Turkey wrangling (teee he he he he) that I have missed looking through dozen of sites while gleaning for helpful tips...
He also Has some great Recipes which I shall be trying out once I am done with "Asian" March...
I have been working through his videos from start to finish & am really enjoying them... Am up to July 2010 at the moment...
I will be adding links to other helpful Channels/sites as I come across them...
That's about it for now...
Have a great one all...
: )»
So how did the seeds go? germination rates, correct breed etc?
ReplyDeleteHey Matt.
DeleteThis was so long ago I wouldn't be able to tell you sorry Mate.
Have never had any issues with incorrect varieties coming in packets & have been pleased with the germination rates of all the smaller suppliers I use.
Cheers mate.