Well everyone, Thank You for checking out this Blog! I was so nervous filming my first Vlog I didn't think anyone would ever get to this page! I thought you would be like, "Why would I want to read what that foole has to say?" I spell foole with the final "e" for two reasons: First reason that is how they spell when referring to a court jester and second it irritates some people!
At any rate, The zombie apocalypse garden idea is a funny way to bring up a subject that is actually very interesting. Heirloom seeds are seeds that are non-hybrid. Hybrid seeds do not produce a seed that can be germinated. So you can't regrow the plant from the seeds it produces. Usually hybrid seeds are engineered in some lab to be prettier, bigger, juicier, meatier, or possess some other attribute that people desire. This is great but the seeds are useless.
In comes the heirloom seed. These seeds can be saved and replanted from year to year to year. You may have heard that the countries of the world are sending seeds to a seed bank somewhere in Scandinavia to be locked up underground in case the world comes to an end and we need to grow more food. Great Idea countries of the world! How do I get there to get some seeds to grow in my garden?! The world has basically ended, Am I to walk there? Drive an SUV? Paddle a boat? I think not.
That is how I came up with Zombie Apocalypse Garden. Honestly, I don't think the world is going to end in October. The book I read says there is only one guy who knows, and he's not telling anybody! The garden is however fun and practical. It does take some planning but not a lot. If you already are a gardener then it will be easier for you than me! I ordered a book from Amazon called Seed to Seed by Suzanne Ashworth. There are some important steps to saving tomato seeds that will help insure success. Here's why. The gel in the tomato that surrounds the seeds actually keeps the seeds from germinating. The gel rots away when the fruit falls to the ground, allowing germination to happen. So what the gardener has to do is ferment the seeds and gel in a bucket of water. (About one cup of water to one cup seed/gel mix). When the top of the mix is covered with mold, drain the water and wash the seeds off in a strainer. When skimming the scum off the top of the water, the seeds that are floating are no good you can discard them. Then dry the seeds on a flat glass plate, quickly so they don't germinate. (put a fan on them, no heat though). This is why I suggest getting a book, I never would have thought about that.
I got a late start on planting my seeds. About three weeks. I bought a propagation mat on the internet to help this along. By keeping the soil warm, the germination and growing process is spread up! I had tomato sprouts in 3days! I posted the first picks on Facebook and that is two weeks after planting. This spring has been cold and wet here in Western New York and the local farmers are worried about getting their crops in the ground. The ground is too cold for the plants to really thrive once replanted outside in the garden. This may allow my plants to catch up and I may have a harvest at the same time as the rest of the people in my area. Not that I'm competing or anything but I don't like to come in last.
The seeds I bought were about $1.50 for about 40 seeds. They say 25 but I got closer to 40. They standard is 80% germination. So that means that I should end up with about 32 of each plant. I planted 3 or 4 in each of the starter pots. I will thin out the weaker plants and keep the stronger ones after they grow some more. Fourteen plants is more than enough for what I need to eat and save for next year.
This is a fun little project and I hope I inspired you to try it out. There is a lot more to talk about concerning heirloom seeds and I will cite some other interesting facts and articles as I go along with these blogs. I will also be planting some of these plants in window boxes to see how it will work for more urban households.
I hope that you learned something here and want to return to find out more! Get out there and have some fun!
Steven
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