Seeds

Hello, and welcome to this month's Garden Share Collective, the theme this month is SEEDS.

Seeds, they are natures little power houses. Enclosed within each seed case is all that is needed for a new life to begin, from the tallest of trees to the tiniest of flowering plants it all starts with a seed. 

The largest plant seed belongs to the Coco de Mer, commonly known as the Sea Coconut, it weighs 18kg (40lbs) and is 30cm (12 inches) in length, when fully mature the palm tree which it grows into will be between 25 - 34 metres tall. At the other end of the scale the seeds of the epiphytic orchid which at 85 micrometres (1/300th an inch) is too small to be seen by the human eye. It's seeds are dispersed and carried on the wind coming to rest in the canopy of the rainforest trees where, over time they will sprout and form new orchids.

There's a kind of wonder in growing a plant from seed, you put a dry little capsule in some compost, keep it moist, and in a week or so up pops a tiny sprout that with care in time will provide food for your table. 

A tiny carrot seedling with its first set of true leaves.

I use seeds nearly all the time in my own garden,  they are cheap to buy and readily available in stores or online.

I am very excited to be trying out some new varieties this season.

 Once you start growing your own vegetables a good habit to get into is letting one of each of your favourite variety of plant go to seed, this way you won't need to buy seed the following season and you'll save money. 

Sunflower seeds collected from the only sunflower I managed to grow this year, but one is all I needed, I now have enough seeds for sowing next year.

I've never  seen so many flower buds on a lettuce before. These will eventually provide me with enough seeds for the next few years.

I would love to have picked this sprout of the Italian Sprouting broccoli, but I will let it flower and when it sets seed I will harvest them and keep them for next winter.

Growing from seed is not always the easiest of options, but it is the most rewarding. There is a great sense of personal satisfaction in knowing that you have been involved right from sowing to eating.

So why not give growing from seed a go, you still have time to go out and buy some seeds and get sowing. 

Harvesting

Broccoli

Cauliflower

A few peas

Parsley

Sowing

Tomatoes

Beetroot

Eggplant

Capsicum

Leeks

Shallots

Coriander

Thyme

Marigolds

Zinnia

Bergamot

Sunflowers

Alyssum

Things to do

Remove wnter vegetables as they finish

Add compost and fertiliser to each bed

Sow seeds for chickpeas and beans

That's it for this month's Garden Share Collective, if you would like to see what's been happening in other people's garden pop over and visit our GSC hosts Kyrstie at A Fresh Legacy or Kate from Rosehips and Rhubarb. I will see you again for next month's Garden Share Collective where the topic will be PHILOSOPHY. That is going to take some thinking about.