Some simple tips for starting your own seeds

What is more magical than germinating seeds? Go ahead and indulge in this delight. Play with some seeds and potting soil and grow your own bedding plants. I’ll take you step by step through the process so you can be successful doing it — organically, of course.

Selecting your seed

Last week, I recommended the kinds of crops that will thrive in our cold soils and short season. Get started by making a list of the cold-climate vegetables, flowers and herbs you actually like and want to grow. Then ask yourself, “How many plants do I want of each kind?” Figure how many will fit the garden space you have. Catalogs help you plan. For example, each full head of Romaine lettuce and cabbage takes a square foot. Allow 16 inches of space between each kale and broccoli plant.

Now that it is mid-April, this is the perfect time to start members of the cabbage and lettuce family. The seedlings will be six to eight weeks old when it’s time to transplant them outdoors during the last week in May (we hope). Don’t bother sowing seeds of parsley, celery, tomatoes and lobelia, as they need a longer head start. Wait until early May to start seeds of cucumber and squash families. Download the UAF Cooperative Extension Bulletin HGA 00032 “Seed Starting and Transplanting” for timing your starts.

Where to buy seed?

Here in the Mat-Su, we have Foundroot.com, focusing on selling seed of sustainable and open-pollinated varieties. Denali Seed racks are replaced by the on-line version called Best Cool Seeds.com and focus on varieties that do well in Alaska. You’ll also find seed packets in the store racks and through catalogs. For detailed growing information, I turn to Johnny’s Selected Seeds catalog. I also like to buy from companies like Seeds of Change, Nichols Garden Nursery, Fedco, Territorial and Peaceful Valley Farm Supply. Why? These are conscientious businesses with policies for offering organic and untreated seed, preserving biodiversity, supporting sustainable agriculture, offering organic choices and never selling genetically engineered seed.

Selecting varieties; you have choices to make

1. Treated or untreated? Treated seed is coated with a fungicide such as Thiram or Captan and sometimes an insecticide or antimicrobial chemical. How do you know? Look for some alert written on the seed packet. Check the color of the seed in packets. Treated seed is often dyed pink or some other unnatural color. Don’t risk having your child, pet or songbird eat it. Choose untreated or organic seed to keep everyone safe and healthy.

2. Open-pollinated, hybrid or heirloom? Open-pollinated, or OP, seeds are non-hybrid plants. Pollination occurs naturally by bees, beetles, birds and wind. If you grow crops from OP seeds and want to save the seed, that seed will breed true (i.e. produce plants just like the parents).

Heirlooms are open-pollinated, cultivated varieties that were once commonly grown in home and market gardens. There is no rule about how old a plant variety must be to be called heirloom, though they are usually 50 years or older.

Hybrids” are denoted in catalogs by F1 and F2. Traditional plant breeders create hybrids by controlling cross-pollination of parent plants to concentrate advantageous characteristics like disease resistance. Hybrids are perfectly acceptable for certified organic growing. Hybrids should not be confused with genetically engineered (GE or GMO) seeds. Many small seed companies sign a safe seed pledge saying that they will not knowingly sell any GMO seed. Hybrids are not appropriate for seed saving, because the next generation will be genetic throwbacks rather than grow up to be like the parent plants.

Next time we’ll talk about potting soils, containers and lighting.

Ellen Vande Visse operates Good Earth Garden School and offers educational workshops through goodearthgardenschool.com.