Buying seeds
It’s worth spending an hour or two browsing through seed catalogues (see the List of suppliers). This is an easy way to consider the pros and cons of different varieties and make choices at your leisure. If you are organized, you can put the whole year’s order together in one go. Write out a wish list, price it up and then delete any excessive choices if it runs over budget. For the greatest ease, place an order online and have it delivered to your door – allowing enough time, as seeds can take two or three weeks to arrive. Alternatively, find out which brands of seed your local garden centre stocks and get hold of appropriate catalogues in advance. This enables you to shop with a prepared list, so that you don’t have to stand for hours reading packets in the shop. Always have alternative options in case some varieties aren’t available.
Top Tip
Ordering in the winter means you are more likely to get popular varieties before they sell out. It will also help you to organize the planting plan for the year ahead. Of course, you might also have some seed saved from the year before.
Packets of old seed
Get out the pile of old seed packets from that biscuit tin! Check through and see what seeds are still viable and which should have been thrown out at the end of the last growing season. Some seed is fine for several years, but other seed is only really viable for one year. It’s a good idea to write down how much seed is left, and what date it should be sown by, on the front of each packet. This saves hunting for the tiny print on the back.
It can still be worth trying to germinate seed from a packet that is past its ‘best before’ date. Some may work, but don’t rely on it, especially if the seed has a long germination time. New seed will grow faster, with more seeds germinating every time.
Some tips on organizing packets of seed
• Seed keeps best in a cool, dark, dry environment. The house is probably too warm and the polytunnel is certainly too damp (before you even begin to consider the temperature swings). A shed, a cool bedroom or the fridge might be the best place.
• An old shoebox is a good container for lining up packets in, if the cool and dry elements can be ensured. Otherwise, find a sealable plastic box and add a pack of silica gel to keep seed dry at all times.
• It’s a good idea to use pieces of card to divide up the months and to sort packets by sowing time. If something like lettuce is to be used for repeat sowings, simply move the packet into the next month’s section after you have made all the sowings in the current month. There will be lots of packets in the February, March and April sections and fewer in January, but there are always some seeds that can be sown. If there are no packets in the sections from July onwards, get out the catalogues again and think about what seed you need for autumn and winter crops.
Is seed still viable?
Most seed packets state what date the contents should be used by, but once the foil packs are opened seed viability starts to decline. A few specifics:
• As a general rule, I buy aubergine, melon, sweetcorn and pepper seed fresh each year. If you have seed left over from last year, some of it will probably germinate, but by the time you find out that only two out of the ten sweetcorn seeds have made it, you will have lost a lot of growing time.
• Tomato seed is good for two years.
• Cucumbers and courgettes will germinate well in a second year and even in a third.
• All brassicas have long lives and seed will be fine after three or four years. Even five-year-old cabbage seed can germinate well, but, as with all seed, it must be kept cool and dry.
• Spinach, Swiss chard and beetroot all give good germination for up to three years.
• Lettuce will give reduced germination in year two, but if you sow thickly there should still be plenty of plants.
• Carrots, beans and peas aren’t worth saving for a second year. Buy just enough for one year at a time.