Recommend Seeds of the New Year

[Mandy Onderwater]

It's a brand new year. I was excited to hear about everyone's plans for this year!

This was my first time ordering seeds online, and so far I'm very happy.

What are you planting this year?

 

[SamfromWA]

Hope it all goes well. I bought a budgie seed mix as i was wanting to grow some millet and sorghum. Plus a few swedes already grown from the store, hoping i can put them back in the ground and they will go to seed.

 

[JP 1983]

Same as I posted in the media section a month ago: Cape gooseberries (ground cherries); another potted Korean zucchini (just set up an old washing line for it to crawl over); cherry tomatoes (I recently bought a multicolour packet of cherry tomatoes from the supermarket and set aside some of the seeds for future use since my current red one has almost carked it); two sumo mandarin seeds recently germinated so they could turn out to be anything; and a newcomer I'm trying to germinate is some lance beard heath (Leucopogon affinis), a tiny native alpine berry that will get its own bush food article hopefully this month.

 

[Mandy Onderwater]

Sounds pretty good @SamfromWA . Bet the birds will be happy with it.

@JP 1983 yeah, I recall. They looked pretty good. I'm interested in growing Cape Gooseberries as well, they look pretty fun. And stores have been selling the plants of late, but they're a little pricier than I like. I wonder how easy they are to start from seed...
Sounds exciting

 

[SamfromWA]

Everyone i know that has stopped eating wheat has seen their health improve dramatically, i used to grow and process my own but since i no longer do and still have a seed grinder i thought i might try some of the other grains and see if they are worth the energy it takes to grow them though i don't have high hopes.

I know this question was directed at JP but my brothers cows broke into his yard and trampled his cape gooseberry bush, in the hoof prints hundreds of seedlings came up, they're are very easy to start from seed.

 

[Mandy Onderwater]

That's pretty interesting @SamfromWA . For us, well my family at least, it was the opposite. I would be interested in a proper study around it. I feel like people from different areas digest food very differently. Food that I used to eat frequently in The Netherlands, just simply doesn't fit with the climate I live in now and can actually make me feel unwell.

Ooh, that's pretty sweet. Especially since they trampled it, it sprung right back at them. I might buy some in that case.

 

[JP 1983]

I wonder how easy they are to start from seed...

Very easy to start from seed! I nicked my seeds from some guy's neglected gooseberry in his front garden I found while walking to the shops via the long way! One berry netted about 40-50 seeds; I sowed about 20 in a giant pot (40L) and probably 12 germinated within 2 weeks! Culled half and letting the rest grow, but they're struggling now. I might cull them back to the two biggest ones. I tried growing them in the diseased pot my lemon died in, and I'm now convinced the soil is utter rubbish... although my Korean zucchini is also growing in it and doing tolerably (it also had chlorosis for about 2 weeks but seems to have recovered significantly after I treated a mite infestation with white oil).

Oh, and today I went to Mt. Annan botanical garden again and found a wild kangaroo apple (Solanum laciniatum) growing by itself on the side of the mountain, and the fruit was riiiiiiiipe! Free seeds! Free food! Yewwwwww! And probably the weirdest fruit I've tasted to date! It was like bitter mandarin, but sweet and addictively weird (alkaloids!) at the same time. Article on those is underway as soon as I finish my current one on blackberry nightshade.

 

[Mandy Onderwater]

Sweet! Seeds are much cheaper than the plant, thanks @JP 1983

Ooh, that sounds pretty good! There is a garden near me, but they fenced it off, so I don't dare climb inside to pick fallen fruit. I can't figure out who owns it either, as it's not really connected to anyone's property. Kind of makes me wish I knew my neighbours, but we all stick to our own sides and don't really interact with each other. Perhaps a downside of living rural.

Perhaps your zucchini is less prone to whatever disease caught onto your lemon. I've got a pot with rubbish soil that makes ever plant sick... except for my pineapple plant. It just doesn't care what I put it through it seems.

Ooh, nice! That sounds awesome. Sounds like a weird, but also nice taste.

 

[Lunai]

Well I've collected quite a bit and still not worked out which ones exactly I'll sow or if all or just a few...

I'll probably plant all of the Peppers/Chili/Paprika

I'll also definetly plant all of the Tomatoe types.

I've 13 varieties and I plan on canning a lot for winter so I'll try to grow 3-4 of every type.

I'll try these. but maybe not all at once but one after the other:

I'll definetly plant at least one of every Pumpkin/zucchini/cucumber. I've got a blue pumpkin and I'm really excited to see how big the Atlantic Giant can get on it's own.

And there will defintely be heaps of different beans (climbing up on sweet corn). I've got a variety were the pods grow up to 1m long (still sceptical, but willing to try and learn)

I've not inserted all of the planned annual herbs such as dill and parsley. And a ton of annual flowers.

 

[Mandy Onderwater]

Love it @Lunai !
Looks like a good year is coming

 

[Mandy Onderwater]

The first sprouts!

 

[Lunai]

Not sprouted yet...
But I've started quelling the first paprika/chili/habanero seeds.

And I've gotten a banana 🍌 tree 🙈 as an experiment.

 

[Mandy Onderwater]

Lookin' good!

Are those seeds in an icecube container, in some water?

 

[Lunai]

Lookin' good!

Are those seeds in an icecube container, in some water?

Yes exactly. They soak there for a day or two to soften the shell. Because especially some of the Chili varieties can have difficulties breaking through and germinating. you can also use hand-warm camomille tea that helps with it's anti-bacterial properties. Usually bell peper seed germinate easy enough, but as I already had the tray ready 😅 doesn`t hurt. It increases the germination rate a lot.
Next month I'll start the Tomatoes with the same method. I've gotten 6 additional varieties 🙈 there's now 20 varieties.... I need to calculate more space in my veggy garden beds for tomatoes...🤣

 

[Mandy Onderwater]

Aah, fair enough. Whatever works, works, doesn't it

Haha I hear you. I think I've got 5 or 6 different types of tomato seeds laying here, and that whilst I don't even like (raw) tomato. But I'm hoping to learn how to make chutney or my own sauces in the future

 

[KathrynJN]

One food I want to try again this year is chickpeas. I tried a couple of years ago but the grass took over and I didn't get very much. I do have seeds, and by the looks I have to plant them around the second week of May. The other food I need to try and grow much more of is peas, my husband's favourite. They rarely get to the pot.

I am starting to bring in luffas (first time trying), and have just started using one. There's just something different using something that I've grown, and whatever is left can go on the compost heap instead of the bin.

 

[Mandy Onderwater]

Already had to repot my gourds. And I started some tomato seeds in the white pots on the 10th as well.

 

[Lunai]

After just 7 days the first pointed pepers and yelow peperoni have sprouted😍😍😍😍
that's really fast, but these where some of the newest seeds, some harvested in November😅
and yes, there's some mold in the potting mix🙈 should go away as it dries out more, had it all covered for germination
Has anyone a clue what the white-yellowish bubbles in the top right corner could be?🤔 maybe funghi?

 

[Mandy Onderwater]

Love it when they sprout pretty quickly 😍

Eh, I don't usually fuss too much about mold in my potting soil. It's usually long gone before I harvest from said plants. Not sure about the bubbles 🤔