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Seeds
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| Seeds are plants waiting to happen. You can give them a chance, or
foil them. If you destroy your weeds before they ripen seeds you've won
a major battle. Many people take great delight in raising plants from
seed. Especially satisfying are seedlings like pumpkins which grow rapidly
and attain big size in a hurry. Seed sowing takes many forms, the easiest
being casual broadcasting, whenever you get around to it. The most
elaborate methods carefully coordinate the phases of the moon, use special
potting soil, and regulate temperature, humidity, etc. |
| This spring I had a chance to discard or sow a miscellaneous
seed collection, some from last year, others from the early 1990s or even
'80s. It seemed heartless and wasteful to throw away the seeds, and
"nothing ventured, nothing gained." So, an experiment was born. Using
identical pots, soil, watering and light, I sowed some of the seeds. |
| First the bad news. None of the following germinated. 4 packets
of Scarlet runner beans from 1989, Fekkel carrots from 1986,
Lemon cucumbers from 1986, Green King cucumbers from 1990, 5 packets
of Heavenly Blue morning glories from 1990, and Charentais
cantaloupe, year unknown. |
| From 5 packets of 1992 Italian white sunflowers, three
seedlings appeared. A 1990 packet of Italian gigante or Neapolitan parsley
resulted in 14 offspring. A host of squash varieties, none of which were
dated, yielded well. It is easy to sprout squash seeds even after 7 years, so this
is no surprise. Here is the tally, with the number of seeds sprouted
and those sown: 1 of 5 Rouge d'etamps Cinderella pumpkin; 5 of 6
Patisson squash; 1 of 7 Emerald buttercup squash; 2 of 10 Peter Pan green
scallop squash; 2 of 12 Ponca butternut squash; 0 of 15 Sweet Dumpling
squash; 0 of 1 Arlesa French zucchini; 4 of 9 Clarimore Lebanese zucchini; 4
of 35 Fiorentino Italian zucchini; 0 of 15 Ronde de Nice zucchini. |
| So, the experiment yielded adequate squash and parsley, with a
few sunflowers for beauty's sake. The "packed for 1996" seeds did
predictably much better, but since over 40 varieties were sown, we can pass
on listing them here. When desirous of a hearty harvest, be it of
flowers, herbs or vegetables, it pays to sow generously --even lavishly.
Seattle seed lovers are blessed, because by far the most extensive selection
of seeds in the Pacific Northwest, if not the whole West, is at the
Seattle Garden Center (alas, this closed in 2002) in the Pike Place Market. Shoppers can find the
choices overwhelming, there are so many. Even many weed seeds are offered
for sale, should you care for, say, chickweed or poison hemlock. One way
or another, if you have a need for seed, try here and you will likely do well. |
It is good to raise seedlings, whether from old or new seeds. As ye
sow, ye shall reap.
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(originally published in The Seattle Weekly, July 1996)
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