I've been noticing how many people I know are planting gardens primarily with sets instead of seeds. Even some of the best GIs I know are surprised that I plant mostly from seed.

This observation causes me to worry about next year....what if everyone expects to just run out and buy sets at the drugstore or whatever. Please, if you plan to feed yourself and your family from the garden, practice planting with seeds!

On the other hand, here is a great opportunity for a small scale neighborhood business. One would need the seeds, equipment, and experience....

-- seraphima (seraphima@aol.com), June 07, 1999

Answers

a lot of people think that some of the slower-growing things need to be started indoors in flats, and they don't want to be bothered. but you don't need individual flats. you can use a small plastic tub, as i have done, to seed cabbages, another tub for the tomatoes, another for flowers, etc, then plant directly into the garden. that's for the north. if you have the patience to wait a little longer for the crop, you can seed directly into the garden.

-- jocelyne slough (jonslough@tln.net), June 07, 1999.

Seraphima there are gonna be alot of "lessons" learned next year that should have been this years. This year at least affords you the opportunity of failure. Packet of seeds,garden shovel and off we go.........!

-- kevin (innxxs@yahoo.com), June 07, 1999.

Kevin - There are lessons I would have preferred to have had at least two prior years to work through. So far, this year's lessons are things that have bombed, with it being too late to correct. I would feel more at ease having had successes in these areas before it mattered...

-- Brooks (brooksbie@hotmail.com), June 07, 1999.

As an amendment, started plants are great as timesaver.. especially things that take a while to grow like herbs, fruit trees, strawberries and other fruits, and the perennial vegetables like horseradish, rhubarb, jerusalem artichokes, true artichokes, etc. Of course these are not one's major source of food, but rather nice adjuncts.

It is intereting that much of the world exploration done in the 1600's and 1700's was to find new plants. Gardens in low tech societies are MUCH more important as sources of food, medicine, entertainment, raw materials, etc. than in our present day TV society.

If you are planning on gardening more next year, be sure to take advantage this year of heavy machinery like tractors, rototillers, manure hauling and spreading equipment and the like. Gas may be more a problem than these relatively simple machines, but they are known for breaking right in the middle of a job also! Need some lead time.

-- seraphima (seraphima@aol.com), June 07, 1999.

For certain kinds of plants, I only use sets. I raise my own. I use styrafoam [sp], self watering trays. You can get these by mail order or much cheaper from places like Lowe's. This year I started 250 tomato plants [28 varieties], 150 peppers [19 varieties], cabbage, herbs, etc. It is easy to do with these things. I hope you aren't really planting fruit trees from see

-- Z1X4Y7 (Z1X4Y7@aol.com), June 07, 1999.

Tub idea great! Hey, seraphima, are you wiling to be a lead participant (Old Git will moderate) on a gardening chat session? Hope so. Email me.

-- BigDog (BigDog@duffer.com), June 07, 1999.

seraphima:

When you mentioned "a great opportunity for a small scale neighborhood business", I thought of all the grasshoppers who would visit such a botanical business. Many would obtain their sets and incorrectly grow them, resulting in total loss. Then, not having any more funds for sets or seeds, they would prowl on those having lush plots.

Remember the dirty humans raiding the corn field in the movie Planet of the Apes? Could this be a possible post Y2K scenario?

-- Randolph (dinosaur@williams-net.com), June 07, 1999.

An amendment. Sets are not only a time saver. It is the only way we can grown certain crops. We make our own kraut. We have to start these plants as sets. If we planted seeds, the heat would get them before they were ready to use.

-- Z1X4Y7 (Z1X4Y7@aol.com), June 07, 1999.

(1) I did start some avocado trees from seeds. But I started a couple of years back and expect that it may be a couple of more until I have much fruit. Other fruit trees in the orchard are from commercial sources. Bamboo shoots probably will not be available for some time. Some of my preparations are LONG term!

(2) Some garden items are easier to do from sets and they are easier to do this year...so I'll still use them. That gives me more time to do higher priority tasks. But I certainly won't plan on them next year. If you haven't grown from seed, it is a great time to practice...but it is getting late in the year already (in most locations).

(3) Great thought on doing tractor/rototiller work now...

(4) This is probably the last year that we get to practice...

-- Mad Monk (madmonk@hawaiian.net), June 07, 1999.