Planting Seeds

Any reliable seed house can be depended upon for good seeds; but even so, there is a great risk in seeds. A seed may to all appearances be all right and yet not have within it vitality enough, or power, to produce a hardy plant.

If you save seed from your own plants you are able to choose carefully. Suppose you are saving seed of aster plants. What blossoms shall you decide upon? Now it is not the blossom only which you must consider, but the entire plant. Why? Because a weak, straggly plant may produce one fine blossom. Looking at that one blossom so really beautiful you think of the numberless equally lovely plants you are going to have from the seeds. But just as likely as not the seeds will produce plants like the parent plant.

So in seed selection the entire plant is to be considered. Is it sturdy, strong, well shaped and symmetrical; does it have a goodly number of fine blossoms? These are questions to ask in seed selection.

If you should happen to have the opportunity to visit a seedsman’s garden, you will see here and there a blossom with a string tied around it. These are blossoms chosen for seed. If you look at the whole plant with care you will be able to see the points which the gardener held in mind when he did his work of selection.

In seed selection size is another point to hold in mind. Now we know no way of telling anything about the plants from which this special collection of seeds came. So we must give our entire thought to the seeds themselves. It is quite evident that there is some choice; some are much larger than the others; some far plumper, too. By all means choose the largest and fullest seed. The reason is this: When you break open a bean and this is very evident, too, in the peanut you see what appears to be a little plant. So it is. Under just the right conditions for development this ‘little chap’ grows into the bean plant you know so well.

This little plant must depend for its early growth on the nourishment stored up in the two halves of the bean seed. For this purpose the food is stored. Beans are not full of food and goodness for you and me to eat, but for the little baby bean plant to feed upon. And so if we choose a large seed, we have chosen a greater amount of food for the plantlet. This little plantlet feeds upon this stored food until its roots are prepared to do their work. So if the seed is small and thin, the first food supply insufficient, there is a possibility of losing the little plant.

You may care to know the name of this pantry of food. It is called a cotyledon if there is but one portion, cotyledons if two. Thus we are aided in the classification of plants. A few plants that bear cones like the pines have several cotyledons. But most plants have either one or two cotyledons.

From large seeds come the strongest plantlets. That is the reason why it is better and safer to choose the large seed. It is the same case exactly as that of weak children.

There is often another trouble in seeds that we buy. The trouble is impurity. Seeds are sometimes mixed with other seeds so like them in appearance that it is impossible to detect the fraud. Pretty poor business, is it not? The seeds may be unclean. Bits of foreign matter in with large seed are very easy to discover. One can merely pick the seed over and make it clean. By clean is meant freedom from foreign matter. But if small seed are unclean, it is very difficult, well nigh impossible, to make them clean.

The third thing to look out for in seed is viability. We know from our testings that seeds which look to the eye to be all right may not develop at all. There are reasons. Seeds may have been picked before they were ripe or mature; they may have been frozen; and they may be too old. Seeds retain their viability or germ developing power, a given number of years and are then useless. There is a viability limit in years which differs for different seeds.

From the test of seeds we find out the germination percentage of seeds. Now if this percentage is low, don’t waste time planting such seed unless it be small seed. Immediately you question that statement. Why does the size of the seed make a difference? This is the reason. When small seed is planted it is usually sown in drills. Most amateurs sprinkle the seed in very thickly. So a great quantity of seed is planted. And enough seed germinates and comes up from such close planting. So quantity makes up for quality.

But take the case of large seed, like corn for example. Corn is planted just so far apart and a few seeds in a place. With such a method of planting the matter of per cent, of germination is most important indeed.

Small seeds that germinate at fifty per cent. may be used but this is too low a per cent. for the large seed. Suppose we test beans. The percentage is seventy. If low-vitality seeds were planted, we could not be absolutely certain of the seventy per cent coming up. But if the seeds are lettuce go ahead with the planting.

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Weeding in November prevents roots thickening and spreading over the winter months, making them a nuisance when the temperature warms up in March. So as soon as ground becomes clear, dig over the soil and spread manure. This is also a good time to double dig areas of ground where total replanting or a new vegetable garden is being planned or poor/heavy soil is preventing growth.

Just remove the top layer to form a shallow trench and then dig over the soil at the bottom of the trench adding compost. Then repeat, filling the first trench with the top soil from the second; the soil from the first trench then fills in the last trench.

Tidy and prune straggly shrubs, hedges and lawn edges. However, do not cut down your perennial plants too much as they provide valuable seed heads for the birds to eat and cover for small creatures during the winter.
Protect overwintering summer plants (e.g. geraniums) with fleece or bring them into the house. Clear containers and tubs of any remaining bedding plants and plant with winter pansies or spring bulbs. Winter hanging baskets and window boxes should also be planted now using varieties such as heathers and primroses.
If you have a pond place a net over it to catch any falling leaves. Clear leaves from beds and lawns and place them in a compost bin if you have one.
If you have a greenhouse, clean and air it thoroughly before closing or insulating it for winter use.

November is a good month to work on fruit bushes and trees. Trim back and cut away any dead stalks in blackberry bushes. Weed strawberry beds thoroughly and clear the area around the summer’s young suckers. Summer fruiting raspberries need to have last year’s wood trimmed out while autumn fruiting varieties should be pruned back to a foot or so as they will fruit on the new wood produced next year. Ensure young trees are well-supported with stakes to prevent damage by strong winter winds.

If you have a vegetable plot, now is the time to harvest your cabbage and cauliflower. Leeks and Brussel Sprouts should also be ready for lifting as should your turnips, swedes and spinach. Late carrots should be raised and stored in sand; wooden boxes are perfect for this so ask your local wine merchant for a wine crate. Check any vegetables already in store for rot, particularly potatoes which should be stored away from light at around 5◦c and in hessian bags (never plastic) or in paper sacks with the top left open.

November is the month to plant garlic. If the soil is heavy or has a tendency to hold water, plant each clove on top of a layer of sand and cover it with light compost. Early broad beans and hardy peas can also be sown in November.

Finally, start making plans for the spring. If you have never grown fruit or vegetables, November is the perfect time to start.

It may seem like a daunting task but the effort will pay dividends in the long run. Here’s how to prepare the perfect vegetable patch from scratch.

Choose a space in your garden. For best results your vegetable patch should be in full sun for most of the day and in a sheltered spot, in front of a sunny wall or fence is ideal. Measure out your vegetable patch to the size required.

Then clear the space. Whether your chosen area is lawn or bed, it needs to be cleared first. For lawn the easiest way is by using an ordinary garden fork. Push the fork into the ground as far as it will go and pull back to lift a section of the grass-topped soil. This can go onto your compost heap. Repeat this process until the area is completely dug. Don’t worry if the soil level looks a bit low, this will be eventually topped up once preparation is complete.

Add a mulch such as well-rotted horse manure or leaf mould. You will need a lot of mulch for the first year’s dig to give it a good start. As a guide to how much you’ll need, get roughly 1 foot deep to cover the whole area. Then double dig the area (as above) and leave the vegetable patch to rest. Prepare to start planting!

Deciding how and what to grow can be difficult for novice gardeners so Gardening Direct has come up with the answer: Vegetable Plot Collections in which the varieties have been carefully selected to ensure fresh vegetables throughout the year with the plants automatically delivered at the optimum time for planting.

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indoor garden

Why would you go for an indoor garden – as opposed to an outdoor one of course? The reasons are pretty simple really. You don’t need to get too mucky grubbing around on your hands and feet in the dirt. You’ll almost never need to brave the harsher weather elements that nature will throw at you for trying to compete with her. It will make your house look nice, and you feel good. And ultimately in the grand scheme of things, it’s good for you.

It’s difficult to imagine how indoor gardening could be good for you, but really it has nothing to do with the gardening itself, more with the plants instead. If you hark back to the good old days of high school and peer pressure, you might just remember vaguely hearing something in science class about plants and photo-something-or-other.

To refresh your memory, it’s a procedure called photosynthesis, where plants remove carbon dioxide from the air, and release oxygen into it instead, thereby removing pollutants from our environment. If you’re living in a jungle there’s not too much of a problem with that, but living as we are in our singular little houses, indoor plants are the next best things. Thus the indoor gardening.

When planning your lovely miniature rainforest – substitute ‘indoor garden’ – you have a variety of stunning plant options to choose from. Ones that the outdoor gardner might not be privy to. I won’t go into a list of possible indoor plants right now as the list is longer than my arm, but if you are interested I would suggest you take a look around in your local plant nursery.

You’ll get a good idea of what types of plants there are for you to choose from, and what types are a no, no. They just won’t grow indoors! You’ll also find with indoor gardening that some plants can be temperamental and will flat out refuse to grow anywhere within a walled-in and roofed area! A simple and easy place to start with would be try your hand at herb gardening. Simple to grow, useful in the kitchen, and best of all not the prima Donna types.

Gardening, of any kind, just doesn’t get any better than indoor gardening, especially if you’re not an outdoorsy type of person and don’t want a close encounter with the wormy kind. Or any other type of crawly insect that resides in your outdoors garden, not you’re indoor garden. The benefits of indoor gardening just keep growing!

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