You Know the drill... Rushing about trying to get the shopping and everything else done when you see a pretty shelf of vegetable seeds at REALLY cheap prices - you stop and think hmm...
Do You stop and think hmm.. why are these so cheap? or do you just buy them anyway? No Judgement here but knowledge is everything and I wanted to share my own experiences with you..
I have been growing my own veg for years now and some years I have had great success whilst other years just nothing! Now I do of course know that a myriad of factors will determine my harvest and success of growing my own food but I can absolutely say that in my experience you really do get what you pay for!
I recently found myself looking back through our Instagram account and could easily see my most productive year in the garden was 2018 – I suppose a lot happened the following year and I am only really settled back in my home now so I am really looking forward to this years’ planting and harvest.
I have had great results from seeds bought at reputable garden Centres such as Springmount Garden Centre and Beechdale Garden Centre. Not so much luck with the odd packet I picked up in some of those cheaper supermarkets or a garage forecourt!
This year I am trying something new..
Firstly – I have bought my seeds online..
Secondly – I have bought them from Irish Seed Savers
Irish Seed Savers Association maintains the country’s only public seed bank, with over 600 non-commercially available varieties of seed. Their main objective is to protect Ireland’s food crop heritage for future generations.
They encourage communities to come together to share seeds and plants, all with the aim of promoting Ireland’s biodiversity and run a number of workshops and events throughout the year.
Their aim is also to inspire us all to save seeds from good stock and they have even put together some videos on how to save seed which you can view on their blog here>>
I was really impressed with the variety of seeds on offer from their seed catalog online shop and I loved some of the background stories to them especially the Buan Onion one – so of course I had to include that in my order! (though to date I have never had success with onions or garlic – yet EVERYONE says they’re the easiest to grow! – go figure!!)
This is a true native Irish onion bred by Barnie Crombie who was still doing on- ion trials up until the 1980’s when he passed on. However, he had sent seed to the Russian and English gene banks from which Irish Seed Savers Association received seed and we have been growing and saving this unique variety since. It has performed extremely well in the most adverse conditions for ‘good quality onions’, i.e. an average Irish summer. The name comes from old Irish, ‘Long life’, and it is indeed a really good white fleshed storage bulb, often not sprouting until summer the following season. View Here >>
The text on the seed packets – pictured here – says it all I think!
I will of course keep you all updated on how I get on with these seeds. Hopefully we will all be saving and swapping seeds in the near future 🙂
