Food from Seed

All the food in the world starts with a seed. Even for carnivores, since they eat herbivores, and herbivores eat plants that grow from seeds. Now that I have a re-built potting shed, and a brand new greenhouse, I am raising a lot more of my own vegetable plants from seed. I find that it is such a rewarding thing to do.

As well as having seedlings ready to plant out exactly when I need them, it
also means that I am able to eat varieties of vegetables that are seldom or never sold as as seedling plants in garden centres, and are certainly not available in supermarkets. Most garden centres, and all supermarkets, go for bulk, and for bland - not for special and tasty.

When you raise your own plants from seed, you can have quantity and quality.
That's what I am aiming for with the just-sprouting zucchini seedlings pictured above. I have very dark green 'Black Beauty', the speckled mid-green and ribbed Italian heirloom variety  'Costata Romanesca' (or Romanesco - the seed packet names vary) and the new yellow hybrid 'Gold Rush'.

I love checking and watering the seed pots every morning, just to see the everyday miracle of a seed pushing up through the soil. The big seeds like pumpkins do this in a most satisfying way, cracking and heaving the potting mix before finally breaking through, often with tiny remnants of the seed coat on their leaves.

Where does one get these special seeds from? Watch this space...