Autumn Seed Savers & What to Plant Now

The next 'Seedy Sunday' will be on Sunday 3 May from 10.30am - 12.00nn.

Thanks especially for Ted and Merryl's hospitality last month at their place. We had a great turn out and loads of seeds, plants, cuttings and tips shared around. Oh, and fabulous food!! Thanks to everyone for making it such an enjoyable meeting.

With the current rain and relatively warm soil temperatures, there are so many edible plants that are growing well in the garden right now. It's a great time to take cuttings to swap and share, sow moisture-loving vegies and herbs and apply soil conditioners.

Bring along:

• any seeds you have to process; 
• plants to sell/swap; 
• planting material such as cuttings or tubers; 
• surplus produce; 
• newspaper/carry bag to take goodies home.

Autumn Planting & Activities

With moisture now in the soil, temperatures cooling down and pest insects like grasshoppers slowing down, it's a wonderful time of year to fill your garden with winter vegetable seeds and seedlings.

That means less watering and work having to tend to pest and disease problems. Here are some activities and planting ideas for this month:

• Maximise summer/autumn growth by chopping back any plants that need a haircut. Arrowroot, comfrey, perennials and pruned shrubs/trees will all provide you with masses of nitrogen rich green material to build your compost. Chop woody prunings to use at the base of compost piles to help aeration and balance carbon. 

Arrowroot - chop and drop as mulch or add to compost as a nutrient accumulator

• Add soil conditioners and organic fertilisers to the soil during the rain to boost growth.
• Sow fast growing edibles like lettuce, rocket and other leafy greens to take advantage of soil moisture. Mulch well.
• Start preparing soil for planting bare-rooted fruit trees available in winter. They are much cheaper and quicker to establish.
• Citrus trees will benefit from another feed now. Remember to mulch your garden well.
• Nasturtiums love the cooler months and have so many uses. Make sure to sow some seeds in your garden now if you haven't already. Once you have them, they will self sow every year.

• Get all your brassica crops in now e.g. kale, broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower. 
• Remember to plant some American upland cress (also known as land cress) to attract the Cabbage White Butterflies to lay eggs on as a sacrificial plant. The leaves are toxic to the caterpillars so this ends the life cycle.   
• Plant herbs like coriander, dill, chives, mint, and parsley. They thrive in this weather. Give your other perennial herbs like rosemary, thyme, sage, lemon grass and lemon-scented verbena a haircut to shape them and provide plenty of fresh herbs for teas or drying.
• If you can get your hands on some dragon fruit, pop them in now.
• Sow some flowers for winter pollination - here are a few suggestions.

What to Plant in May

Check out these guides for more options for planting this month:

Gardenate - Subtropical zone.

ABC Vegie Gardening Guide.

Aussie Organic Gardening.

Current Moon Cycle

To maximise your harvests, consider planting by the moon cycles. We are in a period of prolific growth for above ground plants until 2 May, so get planting with all that soil moisture! This is followed by a few days that are ideal to sow seeds for sprouts and microgreens. 7-8 & 14-15 May are the best times to tuck in root crops.

If you're planning on sowing seeds, seedlings, transplanting, taking cuttings, fertilising or dividing plants, this may help!

Learn more about the Benefits of Moon Gardening. Moon Calendars are available online any time for $12.50.

This month's Seed Savers Meeting

We meet at Sweethearts Cafe who offer us a large space to get together for free (saving us a hall hire fee so no cost to you) but as a business are in effect hiring out that area to us for a couple of hours.

So as a courtesy please remember to at the very least order a tea/coffee or a yummy breakfast, to support the cafe. They have a delicious local and organic menu. Visit their website for more info @ http://www.sweetheartscafe.com.au/aboutus.html.

Venue: 2 Anzac Street (cnr Rosebed Street), Eudlo.

FREE to attend so bring a friend and carpool! Hope to see you soon.

By Anne Gibson

'Seedy Sunday' Propagating Workshop

For our first Seed Savers' meeting in 2013 on Sunday 3 February (8.30am - 10.30am), we'll be kicking off with growing from different plant parts including seeds.

Raising seeds in toilet roll pots in a mini green house

Join in the FREE Propagating Workshop to learn more about growing edible plants from seasonal cuttings and seeds. Find out how to strike cuttings and sow seeds to maximise germination. Seed/plant material available at the time will determine what activities we'll be doing on the day!

Swap/Share: If you have a surplus of particular plants in your garden or some need a 'haircut' or prune, then please feel free to bring these along to share/swap - it's a great way to grow your garden for free. Herbs like mint, rosemary, oregano and thyme are easy to strike from cuttings.

Rosemary is a herb that strikes easily from cuttings

With the current dry weather spell we're having, many gardens are suffering from lack of moisture. Edibles like coriander, rocket, lettuces and other leafy greens and herbs are bolting to seed quickly so it's a great time to snip these flower heads off and store them for drying and seed saving at this workshop. Keep them in a paper bag (remember to label with variety and date!)

Tatsoi in flower

What to Bring on the Day

To help with seed processing, it would be greatly appreciated if you could please bring:

• a funnel (or make your own from a clean plastic drink bottle) - these are handy to tip clean seeds into the tiny packets for storage.

• any spare shallow trays or plates (this enables us to sort and blow off chaff)

• sieves & strainers (kitchen sieves of any size are useful to remove chaff from seeds)

Metal or plastic strainers/sieves and shallow oven or kitchen trays are useful processing tools.

• teaspoons (for measuring into bags)

• artist's or pastry brushes (for brushing away fine chaff from seed)  

Flat plastic plates and pastry brushes are always useful

The more of these materials we have, the more people can get involved in seed processing.

Plant & Seed Swap/Share 

• Any seeds, cuttings, plant material or excess produce from your garden you would like to share. A pair of scissors and secateurs are also handy tools for taking extra cuttings on the day.

Snip cuttings fresh if possible and bring some extra newspaper to wrap around them to keep them from drying out

We hope to see you there.
by Anne Gibson

Growing Herbs, Vegetables & Flowering Annuals from Seed

The following article on how to grow herbs, veggies and flowers from seed is republished with permission from Sustainable Gardening Australia. It's a helpful overview for those wanting to understand the steps involved in sowing, seed germination, raising seedlings and transplanting.

Growing from seed is fun and rewarding as well as being very cost effective. You can access a much broader variety of plants than those that are generally available as seedlings in nurseries. Commercial growers simply cannot afford to produce small volumes of a wide range plants profitably and so concentrate on the mass production of familiar and ‘safe’ options. So if you want to grow heritage plants or rare and unusual varieties, particularly of vegetables, then you need to grow from seed.

Nowadays it is relatively easy to obtain high quality seeds through nurseries or direct from seed companies through mail order. (Note that there are quarantine restrictions on seed coming into Australia from overseas).

Seed Provenance

One thing to consider when ordering seeds online is to identify the provenance or original source of those seeds. If say, you are purchasing seeds from a seed company in Queensland who produce their own seed, then potentially those seeds will have performed well in that environment. But will they necessarily perform as well in say, the foothills of the Victorian Alps? As a rule of thumb you should try to source seed from an area as close to your own growing conditions as possible. Some seed companies source seed from other growers so, if in doubt, check with the seed company.
An excellent way to source locally produced seed is to become part of the Seed Savers Network. This is an organisation that encourages members to grow, preserve, collect and exchange seed with other gardeners in the same area. For further information on the Seed Savers Network visit www.seedsavers.net

Seed Viability

When you are purchasing seed it is important to check the Use By date on the seed pack. Do not be tempted to buy cheap out-of-date seeds. Some of this older seed may germinate but it will probably give a disappointing result and the plants produced will be weak and not very good performers. Seed viability (its capacity to grow and develop) can be variable and, whilst some seed will germinate after being stored for hundreds of years, most seed will only last a season or two. In my experience, the smaller the seed the shorter its period of viability, so obtaining fresh seed is critical for a successful outcome.

A good reference for this is the ‘Seedsaver’s Handbook’, by Michel & Jude Fanton, the founders of the Australian Seedsavers Network. It lists the viability of many edible plants as well as describing in great detail how you can save your own seed. Importantly it also teaches you how to preserve true-to-type varieties by avoiding cross pollination with different varieties of the same plant. e.g. many plants in the cucurbit family (pumpkin, zucchini, marrow, cucumber, melons etc) must be prevented from cross pollinating with close varieties of their type. For example Pumpkin X will cross with a closely planted Pumpkin Y but their seeds will produce hybrids that may lack the desirable characteristics of either one or both of the parent plans.
A simple way to avoid this cross pollination is to only plant and grow one named variety of that plant each season. And check what your neighbour is growing on the other side of the garden fence as well.

Germination Rate

Some seed companies put a Germination Rate (GR) on the seed packet eg GR-85%. This means that for every 100 seeds, on average 85 will grow successfully. Seed packets generally contain a generous amount of seed, ample for any home gardener so the germination rate is probably not critical. But to avoid disappointment, it is a good idea to sow more than you want. For example, when sowing peas or beans you can put two seeds in every hole at the designated spacing. When the plants are about 15cm high, you can choose to remove the weaker of the plants where both seeds have germinated successfully. In other spots, only one seed may have germinated but the second seed will ensure that you won’t have any frustrating gaps.

Don’t give up on seeds too quickly. Most seeds start to pop up above soil level between 5 and 21 days after planting. But some seeds can take considerably longer so check the seed packet for accurate information.

Direct Sowing 

Whilst it can be advantageous to sow seed in seed trays, in order to control heat and water requirements for germination, some seed is best sown directly in garden beds. For example, legumes (peas and beans) as well as root vegetables do not transplant well and should always be sown where they are to grow.

One way to get around this is to use biodegradable pots e.g. toilet roll inserts, egg cartons or rolled up envelopes and sow individual seeds in these. Once conditions are right and the emergent seedlings are strong enough, soak the ‘pots’ well in water and then plant out in the garden. This method avoids disturbing the plant roots which is the reason so many seedlings fail at the transplant stage.

An early crop of summer beans, whether bush or climbing, can be produced by sowing seeds this way in a greenhouse, with the extra warmth tricking the seed into germinating. Once the seeds have germinated, they will grow on even when planted into cold weather.

Pre-Soaking of Seeds

One way to hasten germination, and also to see whether some particular seed is viable, is to pre-soak the seeds. Some sources recommend soaking seeds in water for a couple of hours before planting. Others recommend overnight soaking or even for a couple of days. In my experience, when germinating all types of beans, peas and zucchini (large seeds) seeds, soaking them in water or on moist kitchen paper for several days before planting is beneficial. For an extra ‘kick-along’ place the soaking seeds inside a clear sealed container and place on a warm windowsill. This will ensure that the germinating seedlings are supplied with moisture, light and heat.

Check seeds daily to make sure they are evenly moist and in case of any developing mould. If mould appears, wash seeds gently and returning seeds to the container with new, clean and moist paper will usually avert ongoing problems.

This method can also work well with carrot seed. Soak in tepid water for at least 2 days, changing water daily. Planting seed with a wooden skewer (a dibbler) can help – wet seed is difficult to place!
If any seeds fail to germinate when most others have, then they are not planted.

Planting Depth

When planting seeds they should be planted at a depth double their own size. Fine seed should be sprinkled lightly on the soil, or on the surface of the seedling mix, before a fine layer of soil or seed raising mix is cast across them. A sieve is handy to ensure no large soil particles inhibit germination of fine seed.

Mulch

Do not mulch newly sown seeds as weak seedlings may not be able to penetrate the mulch layer. In some cases a ‘scatter mulch’, e.g. fine straw, can be used to help retain soil surface moisture. A down side with any mulch is that it provides shelter for pests such as earwigs and millipedes that can decimate emerging seedlings over night.

Protection of Young Seedlings

As well as earwigs and millipedes, slugs and snails love tender young seedlings. To deter snails and slugs you could try sprinkling coffee grounds, collected from your friendly neighbourhood barista, around your seedlings. Or spread dried and crushed egg shells in the garden bed. Beer traps are reputedly delighted to drink themselves to death in beer traps.

Recycled plastic milk or soft drink bottles can be used as guards for emerging seedlings. Earwigs are trickier – try enticing them with squeezed grapefruit halves as little houses that they will harbour in. They also like to hide in crushed newspaper drizzled with fishy oil, stuffed inside plastic plant pots. Empty the ‘traps daily’ by disposing of the contents in a manner of your choosing!

Conditions for Germination

Seeds will generally germinate in response to a combination of natural stimuli. The most critical of these are moisture and temperature.

Moisture is generally easy for the home gardener to control with regular gentle watering (fine mist) and by choosing a free draining growing medium (in a seed tray or a garden bed) so that the seed does not become flooded. A simple soft-watering device can be made by using a heated metal skewer to poke holes in a soft drink bottle lid or a fine mist spray bottle.

Overwatering or water logged soil may lead to ‘damping off’, a fungal condition that leads to the collapse of young seedlings. Overcrowding of seedlings may also be a contributing factor, as can bad equipment hygiene. Always clean and sterilise containers before using, and always use fresh potting media (not recycled).

Temperature is a little harder to manage if you are not a commercial grower. The seeds of summer plants need night temperatures to be above 15°c for successful germination. A heat bed may be used to get summer seeds to germinate or they can be kept inside in a warm position until they have germinated. Other useful places to access heat are on top of an outdoor hot water system.

Winter vegetable seeds need night temperatures below 15°c to germinate. A prolonged summer will make it difficult to obtain these cold temperatures so any brief ‘cold snap’ should be taken advantage of. Once the germination process has started, a slight raise in temperature will not affect the plants growth.

Germination Period

Seeds generally germinate somewhere between 7 and 21 days after sowing. During this period it is important to keep the soil moist but not wet. If the soil dries out then the seeds will probably fail to germinate. The first two leaves of the seedling that appear are not ‘true’ leaves but are called cotyledons. They are most often different in appearance from the subsequent ‘true’ leaves. When the true leaves appear it is an indication that the seed has successfully germinated and post embryonic growth has commenced. If the true leaves take too long to appear the seed may become exhausted and fail to progress so it is vital to maintain the optimum germination conditions until this critical stage has passed.

Transplanting Seedlings

If the seeds are sown in seed trays, they should be transplanted when they are approximately 15cm in height when they should be able to resist transplant shock. Be careful not to damage the fragile roots when transplanting as this may cause the seedling to fail. Space or thin out seedlings to the appropriate distance as suggested on the packet so that they have ample room to grow. Water in gently after transplanting with a diluted seaweed emulsion. As they grow continue to provide regular water and a liquid fertiliser as per the seedlings’ needs.

Mail Order Seed Companies

Mail Order Seed Companies that supply heritage, open-pollinated or non-hybrid seeds are listed below. Some seeds may be treated with a fungicide so please read the description carefully, or contact the seed companies directly, if you are looking for untreated and organic seeds.

The Diggers Club: www.diggers.com.au
The Lost Seed: www.thelostseed.com.au
Green Patch Seeds: www.greenpatchseeds.com.au
Beautanicals Vegetable Seeds Australia: www.vegetable.seedsaustralia.com.au
Goodman Seeds: www.goodmanseeds.com.au
Eden Seeds: www.edenseeds.com.au
The Italian Gardener: www.theitaliangardener.com.au
New Gippsland Seeds and Bulbs: www.newgipps.com.au

[NOTE: See full list of Australian suppliers including those that supply certified organic seeds.]

Many new plant cultivars that have been developed over the past decade may be subject to Plant Breeders Rights (PBR). PBR is effectively a plant patent. You may propagate these plants for your own use but NOT for resale unless you pay a royalty to the PBR holder. If in doubt, check the original plant label or seed packet or look for the PBR symbol.

How to Germinate your Seeds

This article via http://permaculture.org.au/2012/08/04/how-to-germinate-your-seeds/

Germinating Your Seeds is Fun and Easy.

Methods vary by plant type. Seeds of annual plants have a shallow dormancy and do not need a winter to germinate, they only live one season. Annuals generally are buried to a depth equal to the size of the seed in moist well drained soil. Some, like tomatoes and peppers, require warm soil or a heat mat to germinate. 

Perennial Seeds Need a Winter

Long-lived perennial plant seeds have mechanisms to prevent germination until conditions are right for successful growing. Perennial seeds go dormant over the winter and then need their dormancy broken in the spring. The techniques below are for perennial seeds only, do not use these techniques on annual or bi-annual vegetable, herb or flower seeds.


In the wild, dormancy is broken by spending time in the ground through the winter so that its hard seed coat is softened by frost and weathering. This cold moist period triggers the seed’s embryo to grow and eventually break though the softened seed coat in its search for the sun and nutrients.

Scarification

Some seeds require scratching or nicking the hard seed coat to allow moisture to enter the seed to begin germination. This mimics natures weathering or the gnawing of rodents. Medium to larger seeds can be nicked with a knife, filed or rubbed with sandpaper. Rub smaller seeds between sandpaper or emery paper. Hobby rock tumblers can be used to scarify larger seed volumes. Abrade only the outer coating, embryos should not be cracked or damaged to remain viable. Commercial nurseries scarify using solutions of sulfuric acid.

Hot water scarification is somewhat easier. Place seeds in an almost boiling pot of water at about 180°F (82°C). Allow the seeds to soak until the water cools to room temperature. Remove the seeds and sow, scarified seeds do not store well. Toss the seeds that float if viable seeds sink for that variety.

Some seeds have a double dormancy requiring both scarification first followed by cold stratification. Others such as Black Cohosh require both warm and cold stratification. See a varieties’ growing instructions for its scarification and stratification requirements.

Cold Stratification

There are six methods of stratification: cold water soaking, refrigeration, fall sowing, winter solstice sowing, outdoor treatment, and snow planting. Time to stratify seeds varies by species, though in most cases storing damp seeds at 39 to 40°F (4 to 5°C) for two to three months is sufficient. Try different methods. Split your seed packet between different methods, start dates or stratification lengths.
Cold Water Soaking

This method works best for medium and larger seeds a few weeks before last frost. You are trying to imitate snowmelt. Place seeds in a small jar and fill with cold water. Viable seeds should sink, although this is not true for all seeds. Many flat seeds or seeds with edges float. Change water daily, your are trying to wash germination inhibitors in the seed. Sow after two weeks. You can also try putting seeds in a small muslin bag and suspending them in the toilet tank. What could be easier, automatic rinsing.

Refrigeration

Wet extra strong paper towel with liquid kelp solution and ring out, fold in half. Liquid kelp is not necessary but it helps germination. Place seeds on half and fold again, press gently between your hands to get seeds in contact with the towel. Place inside plastic bag. Avoid thick walled freezer bags, they do not breath. Label with variety and date. Store in the refrigerator for two to three months depending on the variety. Check for moisture and rotting periodically. If seeds get brown spots and smell musty, they are rotting and should be tossed. Plant after three months whether germinated or not.

The advantage of the paper towel method is that you can see if the seeds are germinating. If germinated, cut paper towel and place on soil, keep moist. You can place seeds in bagged flats in sterile planting medium but the flats or pots take up more room in your refrigerator.

Fall Sowing

Direct sowing in the garden or pots in autumn is the traditional method in Europe. This method naturally exposes perennial seeds to winter conditions. Be sure to stake where you sow, and date. Wood popsicle sticks fade and rot over the winter. Use larger stakes — plastic stakes written with a black Sharpie last the longest. Plant at a depth appropriate for the variety. For seeds requiring light to germinate, just press on the surface.

Winter Solstice Sowing

A variation of autumn sowing is planting later in the winter, starting with the winter solstice on up to February. This method takes full advantage of winter cold and spring heaving and the growing energy of the earth as days lengthen. This works well for hard to start seeds like Good King Henry. We direct sow once in each month from November through March to find the right stratification window. In our zone 7b, mid-December was the proper sowing time to germinate Good King Henry.

Direct sow in place or sow in well drained flats. Do not use soil from your yard, it is usually compacted and hard for the seeds to break through. If necessary, screen soil through 1/4" or 1/2" hardware cloth and supplement over half with loamy compost or peat moss. Some cover their flats with plastic with holes or screens to let in snow. Make this a part of your annual winter solstice celebration. You can soak medium to larger seeds overnight to aid germination. For seeds that sink, floating seeds are not viable. Again, this varies by seed type. If seeds do not require light to germinate, sprinkle with dry soil to cover.

The harder your winter the later you can plant. If you have hard winters and it is very cold out, 30°F (0°C), put your seeds in the fridge for two weeks to reduce the shock before sowing outside.

Outdoor Treatment

Anise Hyssop growing through the paper towel. The roots had already started growing through the towel in the bag so we just planted the paper towel and will separate as they get established.

This is our preferred method. This method is a variation of the bagged paper towel method but takes advantage of the fluctuating winter and spring temperatures. Instead of putting your bags in the refrigerator, place them outside away from direct light. We put them on the North side of our farmhouse, here in the northern hemisphere. Be sure seeds are protected from rodents. This method generally has a higher germination rate than the steady temp refrigerator method. If you plan to use this method and purchase your seeds after mid-February, you should wait until the following year to germinate them because you need cold late winter temperatures.

Snow Planting

This one is for the kids. After a heavy snow, go outside and broadcast your seeds on the snow where you want them to grow, preferably over a prepared garden bed. Have a snowball fight or toss snow over the seeds so birds do not eat them all. This method works best for varieties that can handle cold but do not require cold stratification such as hardy annuals, biennials or short lived perennials.

Surface Sowing

Keep your surface sown seeds moist until the plants are established. If direct sown seeds dry out in your climate from sun or wind, try covering with a single layer of burlap, light colored cotton sheet or half an inch of loose grass clippings. Remove burlap or sheet after germination. Shading with a window screen or white row cover above them the first season will help prevent drying in hot climates. You can also cover with clear plastic until germination to retain moisture, but be careful not to overheat. As soon as sprouts appear, again remove covering.

Some Need Light

Some seeds require light to germinate, sow these seeds on the surface and gently press into contact with the soil. Seeds requiring light to germinate will be indicated both in the growing instructions and will have a sowing depth of ’surface’.

Good growing!

Read More:

• Seed Germination Theory and Practice (PDF) by Norman C. Deno, 1993-1994.
• Seed to Seed by Suzanne Ashworth, 2002.
• Starting From Seed: The Natural Gardener’s Guide to Propagating Plants, Brooklyn Botanical Garden, 2000.
• Plant Propagation, The American Horticultural Society, 1999.

Source: http://permaculture.org.au/2012/08/04/how-to-germinate-your-seeds/ by Restoration Seeds