Fourth Year SFG in Canada

trolleydriver wrote:Thought I would check on my seed hoard. Yikes! But this is probably a small collection compared to what some of you have.you

My box started out about like this. Then it exploded!  I've only been at this for 2 years. I may need an intervention before next season.

And here are some of my pots and packs. Not shown are trays and Winter Sowing containers of which there are many.

TD, If you actually use them, then you have the perfect size collection. I don't think mine would fit on the little kitchen table. Suz and I are joining Seeds Anonymous.

sanderson wrote:TD,  If you actually use them, then you have the perfect size collection.  I don't think mine would fit on the little kitchen table.  Suz and I are joining Seeds Anonymous.

I already have in mind the acquisition of another 20+ packets of seeds. Just give me another year or so and I will join you in the twelve step program. 

Update:
Just ordered 27 packets of seeds from DollarSeed.com in the USA ... 13 veggies and 14 flowers (to keep Mrs TD happy). What have I done??? Their seeds are one dollar US per packet but that translates to about $1.28 Canadian per packet when shipping and exchange rate is taken into account.

Horrible weather. Over the past couple of days we got a fresh layer of snow that was then covered with a layer of ice (freezing rain). Today the temperature plummeted and it is a mess outside. I have to walk to a community mailbox hoping to find a package of seeds that I ordered. The journey on foot was treacherous on the lumpy, icy road (we have no sidewalks in my neighborhood). When I got there the cupboard was bare.

I have a few things going on indoors.

1. I've cleaned all of my pots, trays, buckets, etc. ready for winter sowing and indoor sowing.

2. I've started to prepare (e.g., drill drainage holes) the containers for winter sowing. I hope to get potting mix and seeds into some of them in the next few days so that I can get them out into the snow.

3. I've started a small tray of Arugula microgreens and a larger tray of Sunflower microgreens.

4. The AeroGarden is doing OK and I keep pruning back the larger plants to allow the small ones to catch up and get some light. I eat what I prune from the Dill, Basil, Mint, and Chives plants.


Here are the Arugula mcirogreens.




And the Sunflower microgreens. These were sown last Saturday evening (4 days ago) and germinated on the heat mat. 



This is what the AeroGarden looks like. The back row, left to right, has Basil, Mint, Dill and Kale. The front row. left to right, has Parsley, Lettuce and Chives. The original Thyme in the front center spot did not germinate. I tried it again with my own Thyme seeds and nothing happened. So I sowed Lettuce seeds in that spot and they have germinated.

At what stage do you eat the sunflower microgreens?

I've done "most" of your #1.

sanderson wrote:At what stage do you eat the sunflower microgreens?
...

From what I've read they should be harvested when they reach 3 to 4 inches in height.

trolleydriver wrote:

sanderson wrote:At what stage do you eat the sunflower microgreens?
...

From what I've read they should be harvested when they reach 3 to 4 inches in height.

I have read 4-5 inches but the true way to tell is to harvest just before the first true leaf appears.  Of course you really don't know when the 1st true leaf will appear so I harvest when I see the first true leaf just begin to appear.  After this stage they will get taller but they will be less tender and less tasty.

Thanks

Very cool

• I cover my microgreens (no light at all) with a similar tray and weight it a bit, then I remove and place under the light for a day to green up. This keeps them pretty close to the same size.
  

• then snip with scissors at the base
  

• I eat them just before or when the true leaves "barely" show.
  

So I caught the seed hoarding disease.

I placed an order with DollarSeed ( http://dollarseed.com/ ) and I am involved in some Canadian seed exchanges. Today I received my order from DollarSeed in the USA as well as from one of the people in the seed exchange. Thankfully, I had no problem with cross border shopping and the seeds came through Canada customs with no problems. I find that items shipped USPS to Canada usually come though OK but things shipped via UPS and other couriers often get held up and there is a huge brokerage fee applied at the border.

Here is what I received today.

NICE!
And those sprouts are making my tummy rumble.


<<< Seedhoarder - what we look like when ordering seeds

Nice haul of seeds, there. Already in moisture resistant Zippies.

My first batch of Winter Sowing (WS) containers went out into the snow on February 2. They contain seeds for Swamp Milkweed, Perennial Lupine, Blood Flower, Aster Powderpuff Mix and Cosmos Sensation. Many more to come over the coming weeks including vegetables.


This is my WS work station.



I have 24 of these 4 litre ice cream containers, I cut out the opaque top and use clear plastic to make a window.  The plastic is held in place by the rim of the top. Three or four inches of moist potting mix go into each container and the seeds are sown in the mix. Drainage holes are drilled in the bottom of the container.  The top "window" has holes to allow snow/water in and to let heat to escape when things warm up. Details on WS can be found at wintersown.org .


Here are the five containers out in the snow. I have other types of containers (e.g., 2 litre juice containers) that I will use as well.

It just looks so cold there for anything to germinate, but I know it works.

sanderson wrote:  It just looks so cold there for anything to germinate, but I know it works.

They will germinate when it warms up. WS produces stronger transplants and there is no need for hardening off, no indoor grow lights, no daily watering, no need for forced stratification of seeds,  etc. The downside is that sometimes there is lower germination rate.

Today's arrival ... more seeds from someone on the Facebook Canada Seed Exchange Group. Loving the seed exchanges.

trolleydriver wrote:My first batch of Winter Sowing (WS) containers went out into the snow on February 2. They contain seeds for Swamp Milkweed, Perennial Lupine, Blood Flower, Aster Powderpuff Mix and Cosmos Sensation. Many more to come over the coming weeks including vegetables.


This is my WS work station.



I have 24 of these 4 litre ice cream containers, I cut out the opaque top and use clear plastic to make a window.  The plastic is held in place by the rim of the top. Three or four inches of moist potting mix go into each container and the seeds are sown in the mix. Drainage holes are drilled in the bottom of the container.  The top "window" has holes to allow snow/water in and to let heat to escape when things warm up. Details on WS can be found at wintersown.org .


Here are the five containers out in the snow. I have other types of containers (e.g., 2 litre juice containers) that I will use as well.

You are SO on it! Good for you, TD!

Thanks CC.


I've been putting together my seed inventory ... an Excel spreadsheet of seeds I already had, new bought seeds, seed exchange seeds ... it includes other info such as when to start them, when to transplant, whether or not I will grow them this year, and so on.

I'm also putting together a new (for me) way to store my seeds. I'm using a plastic box (may end up being boxes) about the size of a shoe box. May not be the best approach but I'm also using plastic bags ... so for example, all tomato seed packets go in a plastic bag labeled Tomatoes. The plastic bags go into the plastic "shoe box" and are separated by labeled cardboard dividers that Mrs TD is making. I'll post a photo later.

It's going to be so difficult to decide what to grow. I would like to grow a little of everything I have not grown before (e.g., different types of tomatoes, different squashes). But available space is limited so I won't be able to do that.  I may start a bunch of different varieties of tomatoes and give some to my neighbor (a row gardener) in exchange for getting back some of the crop. We have done that before.

It's nice that your neighbor shares the fruits.  I must get my Excel spreadsheet updated!

LOL! I know about that decision-making process, TD. I go through the same thing...

trolleydriver wrote:Thought I would check on my seed hoard. Yikes! But this is probably a small collection compared to what some of you have.you

That is a lovely sight~ hopes and dreams and experience laid out.

Thanks Turan.

Now tonight Mrs TD and I are cooking up the very last of our Canada Crookneck Squash grown in the SFG last Summer. The end of the neck on this one is getting soft. They have been delicious and deserve a place in the SFG in 2018. Thanks go to sanderson for suggesting that I grow them.  Now I need to figure out if and how I can save the seeds.