One of the jobs that has needed doing for longer than I care to think about is sorting through my seeds to see what I have and what seeds need sowing first. I have an old list from a few years ago, but that was really out of date-its replacement has now been completed.
From going through all my seeds, there are three things that I have noticed about my stock of seeds. The first one is that I have several packets that are now past the date at which they are at their best. While seeds do age and eventually do become unviable, I won’t be throwing them away just yet. When it comes to sowing seeds for whatever species it is that I want to grow, I’ll use the out-of-date seeds first. If they don’t germinate, I will then throw them away and use the in-date seeds.
One thing that I am really lazy with, I have discovered, is checking to see if I have already got an open packet of seeds for a particular type of seed. I have many packets of seeds that contain the same type of seed that are all open. In the future, I need to look properly before opening a fresh packet of seeds.
I also don’t need to buy any more seeds for a long time. In total, I have 220 packets of seeds. That should keep me going for a long time-sowing them will keep my little patio garden going for many, many years.
From these three things, there is a reminder for me that I think is really important, at least to me. This is that I should be out in my garden every day. This includes the days when I am at work-I will do my gardening after I get home from work, doing gardening! It may only be five minutes after work, but five minutes in my garden at the end of the day is often relaxing, always peaceful and usually with a very adorable helper!
One of the reasons why I enjoy gardening at home is that I get to try different things or use different skills that I don’t get to use at work. At work, there is only time to do the very basics of looking after a garden-there is never the time to do anything properly, for a whole host of reasons (which I will talk about another time). At home, I can do it properly, and enjoy doing so.
Now that I have finally got the dreaded seed organising out of the way, I will start going some more gardening over the next few days, and keep you updated on what I am doing. I’ll also keep you updated on any mischief my glamorous assistant gets up to.
2 responses to “That was a job-seeds now sorted!”
There is no such thing as too many seeds! 😄
It must feel good to have gotten the job finally done.
With a lot of my old seeds that I knew would have a low germination rate, I made mixes and did my winter sowing experiment. While come beds didn’t make it at all (mostly due to cats), I was really surprised by how many of some things had germinated. Pelleted carrot seeds, for example. Pelleted seeds typically don’t last past a year.
It feels great! It took me a few hours over several days to sort them out, so it’s mostly relief now it’s done.
I will enjoy doing the same sort of thing and just having a go to see what works and what doesn’t! I’m hoping my cat doesn’t bother my plants too much, but as you know there is no guarantee of that!