I think this is getting silly. Is it?

[weekendwellies]

If you have the space and time to grow them all then it is worth it.
A lot will keep for several years so if you only plant of few from each pack they will be ok.
I suggest you take your list and look around for better prices elsewhere just incase you can get the same stuff cheaper.
I personally am not buying any seeds this year , only spuds. Just using up what I have already and what come free with mags. And doing the seedswap circle.

[organic]

Thanks for all the responses.
Some good news... Earlier today I was in a garden centre and found one of the cabbages on my shopping list for slightly less than the GO price. That just saved me 7p!


On the issue of successional sewing, I was under the impression the sewing and harvest times on the pack indicated the season that variety was meant to grow in and assumed successional sewing. Is that not the case?
If it is possible to just plant one variety over and over I'll only need to get a couple of varieties of each thing (where one's available to overwinter) rather than 2 or 3 in order to ensure a long harvest.

That would knock rather a lot off my GO basket cost.

Oh, and I'm not using any F1 varieties. I don't know if I'll be saving seed this year (the job seems big enough already without trying that - maybe I'll see things differently later in the year though) but simply the glut-ripening on F1 types just doesn't seem like something I want.

I'm perfectly happy to cut down on my varieties, but the things I've got on the shopping list now are what I think I'll need to grow just a few things I know will get used and give a nice long harvest of each (almost year round broccoli, about 6 months of cabbage spuds from 1st early to late main and storing some of the latter for winter - ditto with carrots and then winter greens and so on).

Taking this as an example. The Organic Gardening Catalogue. Does the chart on that page mean I can only sew in April and May and harvest in July and August? Or could I sew trough until July and harvest until October? Maybe later still if there's no frost.

This is all very new (and somewhat confusing) to me at the moment... but I suppose that's why I'm enjoying it all so much!

Thanks again for your replies. I look forwards to the next lot!

[chriscross1966]

,last year I grew 6 different types of courgettes,no one in their right mind can eat or give away that many courgettes,my neighbours were hiding from me by midsummer

Aahh... good old "Courgette Surprise" (sneak a bag of courgetes onto a neighbours doorstep, ring the bell, run away and from a safe distance observe their expressions of surprise when theuy discover another b****y bag of courgettes)

chrisc

[Tori]

There are a few seed sellers who sell small packets of seed at cheaper prices - shop around!
Vegetable seeds from 59p packet

I spent quite a bit last yearand the year before on seeds, but this year hopefully nothing! I only needed Mangetout and I got that by swapping seeds on here!

Well thats the theory - but if I see a bargin . . . . .

[chriscross1966]

Thanks for all the responses.

*S*N*I*P*

This is all very new (and somewhat confusing) to me at the moment... but I suppose that's why I'm enjoying it all so much!

Thanks again for your replies. I look forwards to the next lot!

With some things you can certainly sow the same thing over and over for a succession... Two that leap straight to mind are broad beans, and cauliflowers, however the variety you'd use aren't the best for any season really, Aquadulce Claudia broadies aren't as good as almost all the other varieties in the summer, but they'll stand through winter to give a spring crop that's not as nice but bigger than the other opverwintering variety that's easily available.... with Cauli's All Year Round does what it says on the packet but all the season-specialists are better in season..... you could grow wrinkled peas all year but the round ones taste nicer in the summer....

Things you can't get away with is generally cabbages, you can get a succession by sowing two, maybe three times, two-three weeks apart, but generally not neccessary. If you growing non-hybrids then they'll all come into crop slightly apart anyway.

What's the big deal with organic seed anyway?... if you grow organically and the seed is not coated with something horrendous then what's the point? For potatoes you might as well go to a good garden centre or a potato day, that way you can by a couple of tubers each of things that sound interesting and have an "experimental" row and pick up the rest in bags.

Seed swaps are a good idea too... buy one variety and swap some for another two or three, if you're doing square foot and module sow individual seeds then you don't need big packs of anything, swap with folk on here and various other fora... I bought five sorts of squash this year, I'll be sowing 12 different varieties thanks to swaps, similarly with onions, bought four, sowing nine.....

chrisc

[organic]

Cheers Chrisc.

First, in answer to the question "what's the point?" with Organic seed... while I'll be the first to admit it'll make no appreciable difference on the plot. The important thing there is organic methods. It makes a difference in where the seed comes from. More than just not wanting to eat pesticides, hormones and the likes, which I don't... I'm into "organic" for the environmental reasons. Getting organic seed means supporting retailers and growers who have, in some way or other, made steps towards growing in a way that at very least doesn't harm the water/ground/wildlife as much as conventional methods and at best positively benefits the same.

So while it costs more, I feel it is worth it in some way... even if it's not noticeable on my plot or my plate.


So... successions... thanks for the tip about quality of produce on the less season-specific varieties. I'm slightly more inclined to grow things that will taste nicer than to narrow down to more tolerant varieties which may not taste as good just for the sake of a few quid.

You're dead right about not needing big packs. I got some cabbage (greyhound*) seeds today with so many in the pack that I couldn't eat them all on a cabbage a day for a year! Square footing it, I think it works out at around 20 years worth of seed. Not that it'll last anything like that long!

I'm not sure if there are any potato days coming up around here though. To be honest I'm not even sure how I'd find out such a thing! I like the idea of having some experimental ones. Maybe next year though - I think I'm biting off a bit more than I can chew as it is! Haha.

I'll get some bits up on the seed swap this week I think.



* Unfortunately Greyhound isn't available as organic seed, but I can live with that since it's a variety my family has been growing - with a break for a while - since at least 1950 and probably a lot longer. You just can't beat a bit of nostalgia!