Time to start seeds

Now is the time! This is what most summertime tomato pickers in Alaska are thinking now. This is when tomato seeds are planted here for best summer results.

What a wondrous thing a seed is. It holds the DNA of its kind in a very small container. It looks dry and dead. We humans are often careless with our seeds. They come from the company and we throw them on a shelf until we’re ready to stick them in the ground.

The seed saver knows better. For longer life, seeds must hold enough moisture to keep the germ of life within itself alive. Many seed savers keep a refrigerator just for seeds because cooler temperatures increase seed life. Of course, each species of seeds has its own requirements for life. Some need a cold period (stratification) before they grow. Others require scarring or passing through the digestive tract of another or even the heat of a forest fire (scarification) before germination.

Whatever their requirements, seeds give us independence. We can change continents with the material for our sustenance in our pockets. With a gardener’s care, $20 in seeds can grow $100 worth of good food. Home-grown food means the grower knows exactly what’s in each vegetable — no artificial colors, stabilizers or favors. There’s only the goodness of the earth.

This year I’m starting seeds from our favorite tomato, Early Girl, as well as some heirloom varieties (from which I can save seeds) like Amish Paste, Brandywine, Volkov and Cherokee Purple. If I have the choice, I plant only the bigger seeds from a seed packet. I figure they’re the strongest. Once the seedlings are up, I try to put only the most vigorous growers in the limited space of the greenhouse. The others add nutrients to the compost pile. Too bad we don’t translate the lessons of the garden to other venues.

However we handle our seeds and seedlings, there’s nothing I know of that warms a gardener’s heart more than the joy of a fresh start each spring as we drop seeds into dirt.

Sammy Taylor is an avid gardener who lives in the Big Lake area.