The Frugal Foodie: Tips for Growing From Seed

Welcome to the Frugal Foodie Corner! My Frugal Foodie Friends, I will be sharing weekly tips for stretching food budgets, having fun and making do in the kitchen and garden. This column is about growing food, storing food and preparing food. All are welcome here. This column’s comments are for sharing and learning, about food only please.

Today’s topic is growing food.  Gardening lets us set goals, dream, and have plans for the future, no matter what it holds.  Gardens are a wonderful place to both sit calmly listening to birds sing as well as to work out frustrations and worries by pulling weeds and turning earth.  My favorite thing about gardening is the way it reconnects me to the world through the use of all five senses.

While many people have gardened for years, more people than ever are gardening for the first time this year.  Many large seed companies have ran out of stock, so I thought a column on growing food might be helpful.  If you have a good tip, feel free to add it in the comments.  If you are new to gardening, I hope this helps.

*Any container used to start seeds must have drain holes. The soil needs to be well drained—damp, not soggy, or the root hairs will die.  I prefer to water lightly every other day, allowing the soil to dry on the surface.

* Plastic containers like sour cream, yogurt & salsa containers can easily be given holes with a very hot nail.  Open a window.  Using pliers or something else to hold the longest nail you can find, heat the nail on a stove burner & it will easily make holes in a plastic container.

* Rotisserie chicken and other hot deli meat containers are great for spouting seeds because they come with a green house lid.

*Waxed cardboard containers from milk, juice and ice cream work great for planting seeds and are easy to cut holes in with scissors.

*Starting seeds in containers is a great way to avoid losing plants to pests such as mice, rats, snails, eternally ravenous banana slugs, and birds looking for seeds.

*The best way to get a garden full of tasty vegetables for cheap is to buy seeds and starts at the local farmers market or nursery.  Local merchants carry varieties that grow locally, while national chains may not.  The plants and seeds will be labeled correctly.

*Seeds will still sprout that are a year or two old, if you find packets of old seeds.

*Sprouting potatoes, garlic, ginger, and onions in the kitchen can all be planted in the garden.  Make sure that you divide garlic up into individual cloves and plant each one separately. The rooted base of green onions also regrow well.

*Any fresh whole spice seed such as dill, caraway and coriander may be grown in the garden. You may soak them for an hour or just direct sow into soil.

*Many tomatoes and cucumbers at the grocery store are hybrids and their seeds are not good for planting.  Heirloom tomatoes and cucumbers both have seeds that can be planted in the garden, however they need fermentation to sprout.  You can put half an heirloom tomato or cucumber with the seeds into soil to rot, and you should get plants.

*I have had success saving seeds from heirloom winter squash, peppers, dried beans, and melons bought at the store.  Many fruits and vegetables at the grocery store are hybrids and will either have sterile seed or the food from the seeds will not taste like the original vegetables and fruits. Save the raw seeds from heirlooms on a paper towel to dry a little, and then plant them.

*Always plant the seeds for root crops right in the container or bed where you want them to grow.  Root crops include carrots, radishes, beets, parsnips and the like.  If you try to transplant these plants the vegetables usually end up deformed.

*Greens and flower crops such as swiss chard, lettuce, kale, broccoli and cauliflower are fine started in 6 packs or 4” pots.

*Large seeded pod crops such as peas and beans can be started in larger 6 packs or direct sown.

*Large seeded fruiting crops such as squash, cucumbers and melons do best in 4” to 1 gallon pots to start the seeds.

*Hot weather crops like tomatoes, tomatillos, and peppers usually spend more time in the green house, porch or window where they are started, so I like to plant them in 4” pots and transplant to 2 gallons.  When they outgrow the larger pots, then I put them in the garden.

*Wind pollinated crops like corn, popcorn and wheat require large patches of the same plant or else you will not get food.  You can hand pollinate, but this is labor intensive.  I personally prefer to buy these are farmers markets and farm stands.

*Starting seeds is exciting!  The first leaves that show up are seed leaves or cotyledons.  Then the plant grows it’s first pair of true leaves, while underground it’s hairy root is just starting to branch in the soil. Do not transplant at this stage, because if you break off the root tip the plant will be permanently stunted.  Wait until there are 4 real leaves and roots coming out the drain holes.  The soil will be held together by the roots, so the roots will not be damaged while transplanting and your plants will be much healthier.

*When dreaming and planting your garden, remember to plant what you and your family enjoy eating.

*Plants take room to grow.  If your garden is limited to small containers, seek out special varieties such as Roma tomatoes, small bib lettuce,  green onions, short carrots, and bush beans.

*I believe there will be a shortage of seed next year, so I suggest buying heirloom open pollinated varieties and researching how to save seed from the vegetables that your family most enjoys.

* Lastly, a special note about how much to plant.  Ask yourself if you need to plant the entire pack of seeds, because if you save some, they will sprout next year.  Never plant the entire pack of zucchini.  Two zucchini plants per a person in your family is more than enough, but you must have at least two for them to pollinate.  If you plant the entire pack of zucchini seeds, do not leave them in your neighbors vehicles and mailboxes.  You are warned.

I hope these tips are helpful, my Frugal Foodie Friends!  Please share in the comments, if my tips helped you or any tips that you have.  Until next week, enjoy some good food and garden dreams.

Earlier Columns:

• The Frugal Foodie: How to Keep Produce Fresh and Tasty
• The Frugal Foodie Has Tasty Tips for Easter