Planning the season in seeds

Sort out the seed tin & make a list

God, I love this. I adore it. I tip my seed tin out on the kitchen table and feel the rustle and the bulges. There are always a few beans that have burst out of their envelopes rattling round in the bottom, and a packet of a very exclusive something that was too precious to sow and so it never grew. (Yes, I know this makes no sense.)

The first run over is anything unlabelled that I really don’t know what it is. Then everything old.

Now it is time to make sense of what you have left over and to make a list of what you might need to order. Like with the weeding, I implore you to learn from my mistakes; I have done my seed ordering by going on a pretty website and ordering one of everything that took my fancy. This is in no small way responsible for responsible for the bursting quality that my seed tins take on. It is a waste and unhelpful. Make a list and stick to it, and then add just a couple of things on impulse. Because what is life without adventure?

Choosing which flower seeds to buy for your garden

So how do you make the list? Some questions for you.

Have you got foliage as well as flowers? Have you got early and lates? Some cools and some warms? Unless, like me, you only grow one or the other.

My list-making is also determined by desire to support my soil. This means choosing perennials over annuals, choosing open pollinated over bought in, and making it my life’s work to never have to buy seed again. I slightly fear what addiction may replace it though.

So if you are buying seed from me (my beautiful seed shop is available exclusively to Gather members), add a few extra so that you can intentionally cultivate some plants for saving seed. Like all good psychotherapists, I see the ultimate marker of success to put myself out of business. If I can give you a few packets and you can have flowers and food forever, I shall declare this a life well-lived.